Senate Republicans have already done what they can do to beg Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to run for reelection, but now Florida Republican voters are showing their desperation too.
According to a new poll from Florida-based Mason-Dixon polling, nearly half of undecided Republican voters (and 77 percent of all Republicans) think that Rubio should change his mind and run for his seat again. According to the Washington Post report, none of the top five Republican candidates in the race have managed to break 20 percent support with just six months left in the election.
Numbers like this make a Republican seat up for grabs. The News-Press predicted this problem back in March when it reported historic trends that show Democratic presidential winners have a higher likelihood of helping other Democrats down-ticket. FiveThirtyEight echoed the same sentiment in it's 2016 Senate predictions when it declared Florida a toss-up with a 64 percent likelihood of a Democratic victory just after Trump cinched the GOP nomination.
Rubio had a dramatic fall from grace in the 2016 presidential race when hardly anyone showed up to one of his major Florida rallies, Fox News decided they were dropping him as their favorite golden boy, he crashed and burned in a robotic debate performance, he while criticizing it and he ultimately lost the primary election in his own home state. Rubio supporters have had trouble naming any accomplishments Rubio has achieved while in the U.S. Senate. Worst of all, Rubio faced criticism from one of his state's most prominent newspapers, that called him out for for failing to show up to work. Oddly, some believe he's still better than the options the Florida GOP has for the job.
Florida law prevents any candidate from being on the ballot twice, so if Rubio was the GOP nominee for president he wouldn't be able to be a candidate for the U.S. Senate as well. Since Rubio's friend, Lt. Gov. Carlos López-Cantera, is also running, Rubio dropped out to help clear the field.
Now, Rubio is struggling to find his next gig, with no Republican Party credit card to help pay his bills.
