Democrats loathe Marco Rubio — but it might take Ivanka Trump to beat him in 2022: report

On Thursday, Politico reported that Florida Democrats are hoping to unseat Marco Rubio in the 2022 midterm election — but that some privately are hoping that Ivanka Trump will do it for them.

"The senator's biggest vulnerability ... is on his right flank," reported Marc Caputo. "Rubio's Jan. 6 vote to approve the Electoral College results declaring Biden as the winner of the presidential election was a sin in the eyes of many Trump supporters and conservatives." Meanwhile, rumors have swirled that Ivanka has political ambitions in Florida — although she hasn't publicly announced her intent to run for anything yet.

"The X-factor is Ivanka. If it's her, he's dead. It's over," said Lincoln Project chief Rick Wilson, who used to work as a Republican strategist in Florida. "Ivanka has the Trump brand and it's Trump's party still. Marco Rubio, the fair-weather Trump ally, will become defined as history's biggest nightmare in a Republican primary." He added, however, that his group is unlikely to spend money against Rubio in a general election, as the money would be better spent elsewhere.

Florida is an almost evenly-divided swing state, with most statewide elections being extremely close. Donald Trump's 3-point victory was the largest Republican win in the state since George W. Bush's 5-point win in 2004, despite Democrats spending $100 million against him there.

His win was driven in part by a stronger-than-usual performance with Cuban-American voters, who almost always vote Republican but who backed him by blowout margins. As a consequence, Miami-Dade County, the largest in the state and a Democratic stronghold, was much closer than usual.