Marco Rubio (A New American Century)

Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American attorney and politician currently serving as the senior United States Senator from Florida. A Republican, Rubio previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

Rubio is a Cuban American from Miami, Florida. After serving as a city commissioner for West Miami in the 1990s, he was elected to represent the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives in 2000. Subsequently, he was elected Speaker of the Florida House, and was Speaker for two years beginning in November 2006. Upon leaving the Florida legislature in 2008 due to term limits, Rubio taught at Florida International University.

Rubio successfully ran for the United States Senate in 2010. In April 2015, Rubio announced that he would forego seeking re-election to the Senate to run for president. He clinched the nomination on June 7 after defeating his closest rival, Senator Ted Cruz, in the California and New Jersey primary. Benefiting from a recession and disillusionment with the current administration, Rubio and his running mate, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, defeated the Democratic Party ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Senator Elizabeth Warren. Rubio is the youngest elected President (45 years, 8 months), since John F. Kennedy (43 years, 8 months).