ORLANDO, Fla. — Marco Rubio’s opponents in the Republican presidential field have turned his poor voting record in the Senate into a serious point of criticism, but many of the Florida senator’s constituents and deep-pocket donors he’s looking to court are less than impressed with the onslaught he’s faced in recent weeks.
The freshman senator from Florida, who missed more than 80 percent of Senate roll call votes in October, according to GovTrack, was harangued by fellow Floridian Jeb Bush during the third Republican debate for neglecting his elected duties as the state’s Republican senator.
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“There are a lot of people in Florida living paycheck to paycheck looking for a senator that will fight for them each and every day,” the former Florida governor said at the time.
But Rubio’s constituents claim their senator is fighting for them each and every day on the campaign trail, and many feel far less abandoned than they’ve been made out to be.
“I’ve known Marco since he was speaker and he is an impressive young guy. It doesn’t matter to me,” Ken Seidel, a resident of Palm Beach Gardens told the Washington Examiner.
“Rubio is giving up a job while [Kentucky Sen.] Rand Paul is not,” Seidel added, referring to Rubio’s decision to forego running for re-election to the Senate in 2016 while his colleague and GOP opponent, Paul, has adjusted Kentucky election laws to accommodate both his presidential run and re-election bid.
“Rubio is saying, ‘Look, it’s me or it’s not and I go back to public life for awhile. I think he’s been involved and I think he knows the outcome of a lot of the votes,” Seidel said. “They make a big deal out of it [but] they didn’t when McCain ran, they didn’t when Obama ran and they didn’t when Kerry ran.”
Despite describing herself as a “strong supporter of Jeb,” Rebecca McLaughlin said Rubio’s absenteeism is a familiar practice among elected officials who run for higher office and is thus undeserving of much criticism.
“I think it’s very common that they have that kind of voting record when they’re running for an additional office so, even though it looks really bad, it is what it is,” she said.
“That happens all the time,” added a constituent of Rubio’s who wished to remain anonymous.
“People have to run for office, and I don’t think he’s missed any important votes or ones where he would have made a difference. I’m sure if he would, he would be there,” the voter said.
While it wasn’t a decisive vote, Rubio faced criticism in early October after skipping a cloture vote to continue funding Planned Parenthood to attend a private fundraiser in his home state. His colleagues and Republican opponents, Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, were both present to vote against the measure.
Bush supporter Cindy Ross told the Examiner she has reservations about Rubio’s lack of experience, but isn’t overwhelmingly concerned about her senator’s voting record.
“I wouldn’t call it a concern because I know he did in intentionally since he’s running for higher office,” Ross said.
“It bothers me he isn’t there because he is our Republican senator, but I also know they know how the votes are going to come down and I believe that if Marco knew they needed his vote to break a tie, he would be there,” she added.
However, Sharon Light, another steadfast Bush supporter, took a different tone.
“Not only am I upset and distressed about the fact that Marco Rubio has turned over on immigration, I am very distressed about the fact that he does not turn up to vote. He’s been absent too much,” Light said.
A group of undergraduates involved in “Students for Rubio” told the Examiner it’s “not like Rubio’s sitting at home and doing nothing.”
“He’s dedicated to bettering this country,” said Justin Homberg. “He thought he could do that as a senator, and he has. He’s serving his constituents through constituent services, constituent outreach. And now, he’s still moving towards that goal by trying to lead this nation.”
Homberg continued, “Rubio obviously feels he can make more of a difference as president than as a senator and I’m proud to see him open himself up to those attacks because he knows he can be the best president that we can get.”
Rubio, who is No. 1 in the Washington Examiner’s presidential power rankings, joined former Vice President Dick Cheney and hundreds of GOP donors in Orlando Thursday evening for the Republican Party of Florida’s annual Statesman’s Dinner.
The dinner precedes RPOF’s Sunshine Summit, a two-day conference that gives voters in the battleground state an opportunity to hear from a handful of the GOP candidates.
