Rubio wants Manjarres to take on Deutch

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, RFla., is weighing in on a South Florida congressional race, endorsing one of the three Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to run against U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch.

Rubio’s pick is Javier Manjarres.

He’s seeking the Republican nomination in the Aug. 28 primary in the 22nd Congressional District, which covers most of Broward County north of Interstate 595 and southeast Palm Beach County.

“Javier’s unwavering support for the Constitution, especially his support for the First and Second amendments and his steadfast support for the life of unborn children, makes him uniquely qualified to represent Florida’s 22nd District in Congress,” Rubio said in a statement.

Manjarres, who runs The Shark Tank, a website popular in conservative circles, was an early supporter of Rubio’s campaign for U.S. Senate in 2010.

Rubio has a personal interest in Deutch, who is running for a sixth term in Congress and has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, Gov. Rick Scott — and, at times, the senator.

Although they are in sync on certain foreign policy issues — each is a member of his chamber’s committee on the subject — they have sharply different political outlooks.

And they had some testy exchanges in the aftermath of the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in which 17 people were killed and 17 injured. Stoneman Douglas is in Deutch’s district.

Most notably, they had an unusually contentious back and forth during a Feb. 21 CNN town hall about the massacre. Earlier this month, Deutch called out Rubio on Twitter over Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

In the Aug. 28 Republican primary, Manjarres faces Nicolas Kimaz and Eddison Walters.

In the Democratic primary, Jeff Fandl is on the ballot opposing Deutch.

Independent analysts don’t see Deutch, who is serving his fifth term, as vulnerable. The nonpartisan Inside Elections political report and Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics both list the 22nd Congressional District as safely Democratic.