I. Personal Biography Marco Rubio’s parents immigrated to the United States two years prior to the violent rise of Fidel Castro.1 Both of Rubio’s parents—Mario Rubio and Oriales Rubio—were not US citizens when he was born in Miami, Florida, in 1971.2 Ultimately, however, they both applied for US citizenship and were naturalized in 1975.2 Rubio undoubtedly comes from humble beginnings.
Growing up in Nevada, his Father was a hotel bartender and his mother was a hotel housekeeper. Rubio is the third of four siblings—he has an older brother and sister, Mario and Barbara, respectively, and a younger sister, Veronica. They were originally raised as a Roman Catholic, however, began attending a Mormon church when the family relocated to Nevada. Nevertheless, Rubio now maintains his Roman Catholic faith and no longer practices Mormonism. Rubio moved back to Miami in 1985 and graduated from South Miami Senior High School four years later.
He committed to Tarkio College in Missouri on a football scholarship; however, in line with his humble beginnings, left after a year and enrolled in Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville Florida. He transferred from Santa Fe, and, in 1993, gained a Bachelors of Arts degree in political science at the University of Florida before attending the University of Miami School of Law—where he graduated cum laude in 1996. In 1998, he married his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes, a former bank teller and Miami Dolphins cheerleader. Together they have four children and currently reside in West Miami, Florida. II. Political and Professional Background Rubio got his start in politics while he attended law school at the University of Miami.
He was an intern for US representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and also worked for Republican Senator Bob Dole during his 1996 campaign for presidency. Only two years after graduating from Law School he was elected as a City Commissioner for West Miami, and after a special election was called to the 111th district in the Florida House of Representatives to fill a vacant seat, he secured victory and became a state congressman of Florida. In the nine years that followed his win, he secured four reelections, running unopposed each time—he did so by stressing tax cuts and early childhood education.
Because there was only 60 days for Florida’s legislative cycle, he spent half of his time working at a law firm specializing in land use and zoning, and in 2004, he began working for the law and lobbying firm, Broad and Cassel. His success in Florida politics did not end there. In 2006, he became the first Cuban American to be speaker in Florida’s House of Representatives—and remained so until 2008. In 2009, he began his campaign for US senator for Florida and won in a come-from-behind victory while stressing limited government and conservative ideals.
As a US senator Rubio has launched his own law firm and, when the senate is not in session, teaches classes at the International University of Florida where he receives good reviews by students with both liberal and conservative ideologies—often being praised for his unbiased, objective teaching. While on the US Senate Rubio has served as a member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. On April 13, 2015, Rubio announced his intention to run for President in 2016. Hillary Clinton (opposing candidate)
I. Personal Background Hillary Clinton was born Marco Rubio’s Issue Positions Marco Rubio generally takes a conservative position on issues. When it comes to economic and fiscal issues, however he has voted yea on bipartisan legislation. He voted yea on the trade act of 2015, which gave the President the ability to negotiate trade deals that could not improved by congress. In May of 2015 he voted yes on the Iran Nuclear Agreement, the bill requires President Obama to give the details of an Iranian nuclear deal to congress for review. Additionally, in an attempt to filibuster the Iran Nuclear deal, he voted yes on Hire More Heroes Act of 2015 follow up votes—the legislation was intended to be a tool to filibuster the nuclear deal.
He generally does not agree with President Obama and the democrats in Congress, and is considered a far-right conservative. This can be seen when he joined Rand Paul in a 13-hour filibuster opposing the use of drones—something Obama and many democrats are in favor of. Marco Rubio opposes Obama care, he staunchly opposes same sex marriage, he wishes to keep god in the public sphere, he opposes a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens, he is against prioritizing green energy, the legalization of marijuana, staying out of Iran, and higher taxes.
All and all, he is a strong Conservative Hillary Clinton’s Issue Positions Today, Hillary Clinton, unlike Rubio, is consistently on the left of issues, however, did not vote in reflection to this during her time in the Senate. She voted yea on the Iraq war and yea on the Secure Fence Act—both bills democrats were split on how they voted. Today, she is much more democratic than in the past, something that she could be criticized for—flip-flopping, or catering to popular opinion in order to gain support. She strongly opposes the absolute right to gun ownership, she is in favor of legally requiring companies to hire women and minorities, she favors higher taxes on wealthy, and she is in favor of a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens.
California State Profile I. Report of Registration as of February 10, 2015 6 • Raw number of voters: 24,362,774 • Percent eligible to vote: 72.73% • Total number of Republican voters: 4,958,226 o Percent eligible to vote: 27.98% • Total number of Democratic voters: 7,645,173 o Percent eligible to vote: 43.15% II. Election Results and Total Turnout • Gubernatorial election, 2006 o Republican votes: 4,850,157 • Percent of total vote: 55.88% o Democratic votes: 3,376,732 • Percent of total vote: 38.91 o Total Turnout: 32.77% • Insurance Commissioner election, 2006 o Republican votes: 4,229,986 • Percent of total vote: 50.81% o Democratic votes: 3,204,536
• Percent of total vote: 38.49% o Total Turnout: 39.29% • Presidential election, 2008 o Republican votes: 5,428,052 • Percent of total vote: 31.37% o Democratic votes: 7,683,495 • Percent of total vote: 44.40% o Total Turnout: 59.22% • Presidential election, 2012 o Republican votes: 4,839,958 • Percent of total vote: 37.12% o Democratic votes: 7,854,285 • Percent of total vote: 60.24% o Total Turnout: 55.47% • Presidential Election, 2016 (predictions) o Predicted turnout in vote #: 12,668,642 • Percent of eligible voters: 52.5% • Votes needed to win: 6,334,323
