Marco Rubio is expected back at work in the Senate Thursday, two days after ending his presidential campaign.
The Florida senator told donors and supporters in a series of conference calls Wednesday that he hasn’t figured out his future political plans, but plans to re-immerse himself in Capitol Hill business and finish out his single Senate term strong. Rubio appeared to leave open the possibility that he might run for president again. He signaled disinterest in running for governor in 2018 but made clear his desire to remain involved in national issues.
“There were no sour grapes,” said a Rubio bundler, who was on the call held for the senator’s supporters in Washington, D.C.
When asked to relay what stood out most about Rubio’s remarks on that call, two participants told the Washington Examiner that they were struck by the 44-year-old’s comments about wanting to keep in touch with all of his supporters.
The senator built a national network of campaign contributors, bundlers and grassroots activists almost from scratch, beginning when he arrived in the Senate in 2011; that accelerated over the course of his one-year presidential campaign. Republican operatives on Rubio’s thank-you call for his D.C. backers were left with the impression that the senator is intent on keeping his network intact for future political activity.
The Rubio bundler said that the senator spoke in more personal terms than is normal for an ex-candidate holding the typical “thank-you” conference call. Paraphrasing Rubio, he said that the senator told supporters that he doesn’t “want to lose what we started, I want to stay connected.” The bundler added, relaying his own thoughts on Rubio’s campaign: “The team was so small for so long, everyone was there because they wanted to be there.”
According to the Washington Post, Rubio described himself as being disappointed with the outcome of his race, but at peace.
“We had a great season but we didn’t get to the Super Bowl and we didn’t win the Super Bowl,” Rubio said.
In a separate conference call with his supporters in Minnesota, one of just three states or territories where the Floridian won, Rubio communicated much of the same, although he signaled that in race that has boiled down to front-runner Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, he favors Cruz.
The St. Paul Pioneer Press reported that Rubio described the Texan as “the only conservative left in the race.” Rubio said he planned to stay out of the 2016 race for the time being, but did not rule out getting involved again at some point.
Rubio ended his presidential bid Tuesday evening, after losing his home state of Florida to Trump, the New York celebrity businessman, in a landslide. During a White House bid that he launched on March 16, 2015, Rubio regularly missed votes in the Senate in order to campaign.
