Rubio, who decided at the last second to seek a second term, easily fended off millionaire homebuilder Carlos Beruff.
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Sen. Marco RubioMarco RubioCanova refuses to congratulate Wasserman Schultz on victory The Hill’s 12:30 Report Rubio challenges Murphy to six debates MORE (R-Fla.) on Wednesday morning challenged his opponent for Senate, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Fla.), to six debates ahead of the November general election. In a year where good news for Senate Republicans is few and far between, Rubio’s primary win Tuesday is something for them to celebrate. Many believe that Rubio could run for President again in 2020, should Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump.
It sets up a tight race with Rubio in November, who is now narrow favorite to hold the state and could prevent Democrats netting the four seats nationwide they may need to swing control of the US Senate. (Rubio has since said he’ll support Trump.) Then there’s the matter of his Senate voting record, one of the worst in Congress over 2015, and that an editorial in one of Florida’s largest newspapers called on Rubio to step down. During campaign stops over the last two weeks, Rubio trained his sights more on U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, his likely Democratic challenger, more than Beruff, whom he refused to debate and rarely mentioned by name on the campaign trail.
In Florida, the former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, Wasserman Schultz, must stave off a challenge for her congressional seat from Bernie Sanders-backed Tim Canova. But since he returned to the Senate race in June, he has strongly pushed for electing Trump president – and Trump, in turn, has endorsed Rubio. The seat is now held by Rep. Gwen Graham (D-FL), the daughter of former Florida governor and senator Bob Graham, who announced she was leaving Congress earlier this year. Murphy also visited two other South Florida polling sites.
Democrats also hope to gain seats in Florida’s heavily Republican House delegation after court-mandated redistricting chipped away the advantages of some incumbents. Additionally, Rubio’s run for the White House this year has already raised questions about whether he is seeking re-election mostly so he continues to have a political voice heading into the 2020 elections. “The answer is he has a sense of entitlement, because when everything you’ve ever had in your life is given to you, you think you deserve it all”, Rubio said. In the redrawn 2nd District, surgeon Neal Dunn and lawyer Mary Thomas are clashing over their ties to former Gov. Charlie Crist – the Republican-turned-independent-turned Democrat who is a reviled figure among Florida conservatives. Rubio easily won the Republican contest too. News stories displayed here appear in our category for US Headlines and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization.
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