Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell upped the pressure on Sen. Marco Rubio Tuesday to run for re-election to his Senate seat this fall, something the Florida Republican has so far been unwilling to do.
In an interview Tuesday morning, McConnell told “Morning Joe” that he is “doing everything” he can to convince Rubio to change his mind and run for his Senate seat again. Rubio opened the door slightly to the possibility in an interview that aired Sunday on CNN, saying that if it weren’t for his good friend Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera’s presence in the race he would consider jumping in the fray.
“One of the things we’re working on in your old state is trying to draft Marco into running again,” McConnell said when discussing holding the Senate during the 2016 contest.
When pressed by host Joe Scarborough whether Rubio will do so, McConnell said “I hope so.”
“We’re doing everything we can to encourage him to run,” McConnell added.
Election watchers say Rubio would likely do well if he jumped back in thanks to his high name recognition, which would serve him well against the relatively unknown group of candidates in the race.
McConnell also told radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier Tuesday morning that he was hoping Rubio would “reconsider” a bid because he has the best chance of keeping the seat in Republican hands.
“I and my colleagues have been trying to convince Sen. Marco Rubio to run again in Florida,” McConnell told the host. “He had indicated he was not going to, but we’re all hoping that he’ll reconsider, because poll data indicates that he is the one who can win for us. He would not only save a terrific senator for the Senate, but help save the majority.”
“We’re all lobbying hard for him to run again,” McConnell continued. “He’s been back in the Senate for six weeks. He’s, I believe, enjoying it, and being effective. Fortunately, Florida has a very late filing deadline, sometime in June, and a late primary in August. And so one of the current candidates in Florida has already indicated he would drop out if Marco decided to run again. So I haven’t given up hope. He hasn’t said yes, yet, but there are an awful lot of us who think that it would not only be good for him and for Florida, but good for the Senate if he ran again.”
Rubio and Lopez-Cantera are longtime friends dating back to when they worked together on Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign. Since ending his presidential campaign, Rubio has worked to help the lieutenant governor’s primary efforts, having attended a fundraiser for him in Washington only two weeks ago.
Many Republicans, including former rival and presumptive nominee Donald Trump, have urged Rubio to reconsider in light of polling that shows him with the best chance of winning the seat in November.
Throughout his campaign for president, Rubio said as part of his stump speech that if his White House bid failed, he would simply be a private citizen come January. Since ending his campaign, the Florida senator has tried to keep his head down in the Senate, having directed his focus toward increasing funding to combat the Zika virus.
