Now that he has decided to run for re-election, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) will not attend the GOP national convention in Cleveland.
“Florida has always been a competitive state, and it will be this fall. Marco had planned to go to the convention before he decided to seek reelection. Since Marco got into the race late, he will be in Florida campaigning and meeting with voters instead of going to Ohio,” Rubio spokeswoman Oliva Perez-Cubas wrote in an email statement to Politico on Wednesday.
This marks a reversal for Rubio, who said in May that he would speak at the Republican convention if asked.
Rubio joins the ranks of several Republican lawmakers who plan on skipping the convention at which Donald Trump will almost certainly be nominated as the party’s presidential nominee. The chairman of the Senate Republican campaign arm has advised vulnerable senators up for re-election in November to avoid the convention.
