Rubio changes course, will run for re-election
ORLANDO, Fla. — Marco Rubio is back in the race.
With just two days to go before the qualifying deadline, the Florida Republican announced Wednesday that he will run for re-election to his U.S. Senate seat, reversing months of insistence he would not run.
“In politics, admitting you’ve changed your mind is not something most people like to do,” Rubio said in a statement. “I understand my opponents will try to use this decision to score political points against me. Have at it. Because I have never claimed to be perfect, or to have all the answers. Still, the people of Florida deserve to know why I’ve changed my mind.”
Rubio called the Senate “a frustrating place,” but also called it “a place from which you can perform great services for the people you have the honor of representing.”
But he pointedly cited another role the Senate plays: “The Constitutional power to act as a check and balance on the excesses of a president.”
“Control of the Senate may very well come down to the race in Florida,” he said. “That means the future of the Supreme Court will be determined by the Florida Senate seat. It means the future of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal will be determined by the Florida Senate seat. It means the direction of our country’s fiscal and economic policies will be determined by this Senate seat. The stakes for our nation could not be higher.”
Rubio had mentioned the Pulse nightclub shooting last week in talking about a possible run, saying, “Obviously, I take very seriously everything that’s going on — not just Orlando, but in our country.”
However, Rubio did not specifically mention Orlando or the massacre in his statement Wednesday.
Rubio criticized presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, but also criticized presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump, the man who defeated him in the Republican presidential primaries — including in the Florida primary in March, ending Rubio’s presidential campaign.