Despite their animosity in the Republican presidential primaries, Donald Trump wants Marco Rubio to run for a second term in the Senate.
Rubio made it clear during his presidential bid that he would not run again for the Senate if he lost. After dropping out of the presidential race after Trump routed him in Florida, Rubio has been active in the Senate but has done nothing to indicate he wants a second term.
But Republicans in Washington, including Mitch McConnell and the NRSC, are putting pressure on Rubio to run again. Rubio said once again on Thursday that he doesn’t plan to run for the Senate.
Trump took to Twitter on Thursday night and urged Rubio to run for the Senate.
“Poll data shows that Marco Rubio does by far the best in holding onto his Senate seat in Florida,” Trump noted. “Important to keep the majority. Run Marco!”
Trump’s not alone in thinking the stakes are high in the Florida Senate race. In November, several Republican senators will have to defend their seats in traditional blue states including Mark Kirk of Illinois, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire.
Rubio said this week that he would help Trump including saying he would speak at the Republican convention in Cleveland this summer. But the Florida Republican has shot down speculation that he would end up as Trump’s running mate, insisting he was not interested and would not be the right choice.
In the meantime, five Republicans have lined up to run for the open Senate seat: Congressmen Ron DeSantis and David Jolly, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, businessman and Army veteran Todd Wilcox and businessman Carlos Beruff. While the primary is looming at the end of August, polls show none of the Republican Senate candidates are well known, even with likely primary voters.
