Gaetz won’t run against Rubio
Said he is not interested in running in 2022 Florida primary
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz said Tuesday he won’t challenge U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio in the 2022 Florida primary.
“I have no interest in running against Marco Rubio for the US Senate,” he wrote on Twitter.
He left open the possibility that he’d run for another statewide office instead of seeking re-election.
“In 2022 the only statewide position I would consider running for in the current political climate is Commissioner of Agriculture. But things can change! (Not the Senate thing though),” Gaetz said.
Agriculture commissioner is the only statewide office currently held by a Democrat, Nikki Fried. Later Tuesday, Gaetz tweeted comments suggesting at campaign themes, saying agriculture commissioner should support the Second Amendment and oppose illegal immigration.
On Friday, Palm Beach County’s state Republican committeeman, Joe Budd, said he wanted Gaetz to challenge Rubio.
Budd was an early, outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, as is Gaetz, and is president of the Trump 45 Club USA, a political club that draws large
crowds to its monthly meetings.
Gaetz, a Panhandle Republican at the beginning of the third term in the House, is well known to conservative audiences on cable TV and social media as one of the most outspoken voices in support of President Donald Trump.
Rubio, in his second term and the state’s senior senator, has had a mixed relationship with Trump. Both men sought the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and criticized each other harshly during the campaign.
After Trump emerged as the victor — he overwhelmingly defeated Rubio in the Florida presidential primary — the two reached a détente, which involved Rubio supporting just about everything Trump has said and done.
But Budd and some other Trump supporters think Rubio hasn’t been as pro-Trump as they’d like.
“Our people who are your more hardcore Trump supporters have a disdain for Marco Rubio,” Budd said Friday. “If he [Gaetz] ever thought there was a good time to step up to senator now would be it.”