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Bobby Jindal drops out. Which 14 Republicans are left for 2016?

The GOP has a history of nominating people who have run before, which could give heart to some familiar faces. But there’s also a crop of first-timers who could steal the show.

3. Marco Rubio

David Goldman/AP
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, (R) of Florida, leaves after speaking at the Georgia Republican Convention, May 15, 2015, in Athens, Ga.

The freshman senator officially launched his presidential campaign on April 13, 2015.

Young and charismatic, Marco Rubio burst onto the national scene in 2010 when he defeated then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist to become the junior senator from Florida. Dubbed by some the GOP’s Barack Obama, Senator Rubio has managed his image carefully, delivering serious policy addresses and initially playing down any designs on higher office.

In another echo of Mr. Obama, he delivered perhaps the best-received speech of the 2012 Republican National Convention. 

Rubio was a leader in the Senate in passing comprehensive immigration reform. Latinos welcomed his calls for compassion, but Rubio’s standing among conservatives fell. In late October 2013, Rubio backed away from comprehensive immigration reform and recommended that Congress make piecemeal changes. He also joined tea partyers in the Senate in supporting a government shutdown as a way to force defunding of Obamacare. 

Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants, and could help the GOP recover from Mitt Romney’s poor showing among Latinos (though not all Latinos feel warmly toward Cuban-Americans, who have special immigration status). Still, pride among Latinos that one of their own could become president might override reservations.

As a Floridian, Rubio would be positioned to do well in his state’s primary, though the expected entry of former Gov. Jeb Bush complicates the battle for Florida. If Rubio or Bush won the nomination, either would have an excellent shot at winning the nation’s biggest battleground state.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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