Sen. Rick Scott believes Puerto Rico will achieve statehood — and the Florida Republican rejects arguments by some in his party that the Caribbean island territory would elect Democrats to Congress in perpetuity.

“I believe Puerto Rico eventually will be a state,” Scott told reporters Thursday morning during a joint interview with fellow Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio. Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, travels to Puerto Rico often and assiduously courted island transplants in Florida in his three statewide campaigns, for governor in 2010 and 2014 and the Senate in 2018. Democrats in Congress are pushing for statehood, and most Republicans are opposed.