Mitch Perry
No word from Marco Rubio regarding his political future, but the Florida Senator is already getting grief from the campaign of one his possible Republican opponents as he decides whether or not to run for re-election to his U.S. Senate seat.
Chris Hartline is the spokesman for Carlos Beruff, the Manatee County developer who says he won’t be getting out of the race if Rubio gets back into it.
In a statement issued out today, Hartline poses three questions to the once, and perhaps future, Florida senator:
Are you willing to look the voters of Florida in the eye and commit to serving out an entire 6-year term in the U.S. Senate? And, do you commit to not running for president in 2020? Do you pledge to truly serve the people of Florida by showing up to work and not missing votes or committee hearings?
“If Rubio runs and refuses to make this pledge, the voters of Florida have a simple choice,” Hartline continues. “Do you want Carlos Beruff, who will bring his real-world experience to the problems facing our country or do you want Marco Rubio, a career politician who will simply use the Senate as a launching pad for his future political ambitions?,” Hartline writes, adding that Rubio’s word is “meaningless by breaking his pledge to not run for re-election.”
Rubio said last week he would take this past weekend to consult with his family about his political future, but he’s been mum so far on Monday. One of the reasons he might run again for Senate, some political analysts contend, is that it would make him more viable for another presidential run in 2020. But Team Beruff wants Rubio to take a pledge now, declaring he won’t run for higher office, and instead remain in his seat through the entirety of its six-year commitment.
The five-man GOP Senate field shrunk by one last Friday, when Pinellas County Republican David Jolly announced he was dropping out of the race. Remaining are Beruff, Congressman Ron DeSantis, former combat veteran and businessman Todd Wilcox, and Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera. Lopez-Cantera has acknowledged if Rubio were to re-emerge back into the race, he would gladly step aside for his friend and concentrate on his duties as lieutenant governor.
