Marco Rubio
This month, Representing La Gente will be profiling the junior senator from the great state of Florida: Marco Rubio. Rubio was born on May 28, 1971, to Cuban exiles Mario and Oria Rubio Garcia. Rubio is an alumnus of the University of Florida and obtained his Juris doctor from the University of Miami. He currently is the second youngest active United States Senator, having only been elected to the position in 2010, much to the surprise of both the citizens of Florida and much of the political spectrum.
Rubio’s political career began simply enough, starting out as a city commissioner in West Miami. His time in Miami acted as a springboard for a very successful career within the Florida House of Representatives, where he represented the 111th district. He achieved great success in the house within a relatively short amount of time, bolstered by town hall meetings held all throughout the state known as ‘Idea-Raisers.’ These meetings, in addition to providing a public forum to communicate with his constituents, helped Rubio to form a book called 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future. The release of the book, though largely an echo of the policies of the Bush administration, garnered a lot of attention for Rubio within the ranks of the Republican Party.
This newfound attention came into play quickly, as Rubio turned his attention to running for the United States Senate seat that was being vacated by Florida’s Mel Martinez. Running against Rubio for the seat was Republican governor, Charlie Crist. Rubio’s prospects were bleak, largely because his rising popularity still paled in comparison to the kind of recognition that Crist held as governor. Over time, Crist’s dominance on the Republican nomination began to wane, leading the former governor to run as an independent, effectively splitting the liberal voters and giving Rubio an easy win for the Senate seat.
The advent of Rubio’s election to the Senate was timed with the creation of the Tea Party movement – a movement that Rubio utilized in his bid for the election, largely due to his similar views on small government and the economy. Since being elected, Rubio has now decided to stay away from the Rand Paul- and Michele Bachmann-headed Tea Party Caucus, an act that several members of the hard right have decried.
Marco Rubio is a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Foreign Relations, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference. He is currently one year into a six-year term.
About Ryan Almodovar
Maybe it’s just me but I find it very hard to have respect for someone who would be ok with laws that work against issues that are in the hispanic community like or not we can’t ignore the obvious issues like immigration, poverty, access to healthcare, etc. I don’t like him or agree with his politics. I feel sorry for the ppl of Miami. I saw his web site and anyone who has supported the tea party whether it be in the past or recently would NEVER get my vote.
Good profile, but Rubio is already stumbling, with his unwavering support for manned space flight and overspending of NASA is ridiculous. Who cares about manned space travel when we have people with no jobs, foreclosures and high gas prices. Marquito: it is time to cut billions, brother. Drink your tea, but in the end you are just like every politician: protect your backyard and the money machine that is NASA.
It appears the people of Florida have been under the sun to damn long in electing this Bush baby to their Senate