Who is Marco Antonio Rubio The political world knows him as Marco Rubio, he is the junior United States Senator from Florida and member of the Republican Party. At the age of 39, he is the second youngest current U.S. Senator, being only one week older than Mike Lee of Utah.[2]Rubio was the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives during the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions. He was first elected to the Florida House on January 25, 2000, from the 111th district.
Early life
Rubio was born May 28, 1971, he is the second son and third child of Cuban exiles Mario Rubio (1927–2010)[3] and Oria Garcia (born 1931), and was born in Miami, Florida. His siblings are: Mario (born 1950), Barbara (born 1960) and Veronica (born 1972). Rubio identifies himself as Catholic having been baptized, confirmed, and married in the Catholic Church,[1][4][5] Rubio is fluent in Spanish. His father was a bartender and his mother worked as a hotel housekeeper in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rubio lived in Las Vegas from 1979 to 1985, before his family returned to Miami in the summer of 1985.Education
Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School and graduated in 1989. He then attendedTarkio College for one year on a football scholarship from 1989 to 1990, before enrolling atSanta Fe College, and then the University of Florida. He earned his B.A. degree in political science from the University of Florida in 1993, and his J.D. degree cum laude from theUniversity of Miami in 1996.
Political career
Marco Rubio served as a City Commissioner for West Miami before being elected to the Florida House of Representatives for the 111th district in a special election on January 25, 2000. He has won each of his re-election bids.[6] In November 2006, he was elected Speaker of theFlorida State House for the 2006–08 term.He is the author of the book 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future. This book was compiled from Rubio's travels around the state to gather ideas from citizens. This was done through what Rubio calls "Idearaisers". Many of the issues that he pushed for in his first year as speaker came from ideas in this book. During 2007, Marco Rubio championed a major overhaul of the Florida tax system. He argued it would reduce property taxes and decrease the size of government.
2010 U.S. Senate campaign
On May 5, 2009, Rubio announced on his website that he planned to run for the United States Senate in 2010 for the Republican seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez, who had resigned and been replaced by George LeMieux. Prior to the announcement, he had been meeting with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state.[7] Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination.[8][9]On April 28, 2010, Crist announced he would be running as an independent, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio.[10] Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused[11][12] to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for Senate.[13]
On November 2, 2010, Marco Rubio won the senatorial election with 48.9% of the vote to Crist's 29.7% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20.1%.[14]
Senator
Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda, former lobbyist and "top domestic policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney" as his Chief of Staff.[15] He has been assigned to the Senate Commerce, Small Business, Foreign Relations and Intelligence Committees.[15]Presidential election 2012
As did a number of other successful Republican candidates in the 2010 midterm election nationwide, Rubio soon became the subject of otherwise unsupported media driven speculation as a potential GOP candidate for the presidential election of 2012.[16][17] Rubio stated shortly after taking office that he has no interest in running for president or vice president in 2012.[18]
Personal life
Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in 1997. She is of Colombian descent, and together they have four children named Amanda, Daniella, Anthony, and Dominic.[19] Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.[1][20] While Rubio regularly attends Catholic Mass,[21] he has also attended and donated to the Christ Fellowship Church in West Kendall, Florida since 2004.[4][22] This church, one of the largest in the United States,[23] describes itself as non-denominational but is affiliated to the Southern Baptist Convention.[21] Some observers have speculated that his attendance at both Catholic and Protestant churches despite their incompatible theologies is an attempt to court Hispanic voters, some of whom have embraced Protestantism as against a more established tendency among Hispanics to adhere to Catholicism.[24]To see more of Who Is click here