Marco Rubio repeatedly said, during the primary season, that he would not be running for re-election to his Florida senate seat. Of course, he was hoping to be the GOP nominee, so that was an easy promise to make. We all know how that ended.

And it seemed until lately, he really meant it about not running for re-election. Then Orlando happened. And now it looks like Rep. David Jolly just confirmed on CNN that Rubio is getting back in.


From the Hill:

A spokesperson for Jolly later clarified that he “has no actual knowledge of a Rubio decision.”

An aide indicated Friday that Rubio still plans to spend time with family while reevaluating his decision.

“Obviously, I take very seriously everything that’s going on — not just Orlando, but in our country,” Rubio said Wednesday. “I enjoy my service here a lot. So I’ll go home later this week, and I’ll have some time with my family, and then if there’s been a change in our status, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.”

Rubio told reporters Wednesday that he would reconsider his decision not to run for reelection, which he made when launching his White House bid that ultimately failed.

The first-term senator reopened the door to running for reelection after speaking with Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos López-Cantera, a close friend running to replace him.

Of course, Rubio comes back with a ton of baggage, from both his Senate service and the presidential primary race. But he has the best name recognition in the race, and the polling indicated that no other one candidate had picked up steam as of yet.

Well Rubio is running for reelection. Must admit I'm surprised, but at least it gives the GOP an actual chance to hold the FL-SEN seat.

— Jeff B/DDHQ (@EsotericCD) June 17, 2016

The Democrats, of course, have their own problems in the Florida senate race. The Democrat primary for the seat is between Rep. Patrick Murphy (who is being backed by Democratic leadership) and the execrable Alan Grayson. Just how bad is Grayson? He’s so bad that even Harry Reid wants him to lose.

Reid immediately replied to Grayson: "It is true and I want you to lose"

— Scott Wong (@scottwongDC) May 11, 2016

The Florida senate primary takes place on August 30th. Murphy is currently favored, but Grayson is definitely the louder of the two, and there’s been no new polling since the Orlando terror shooting. (A purported Rubio-Murphy matchup, without Rubio formally declaring, is a statistical dead heat.)

Regardless, Rubio jumping back into this race would change it up completely. It’s a risky move, but in this year of political insanity, how often have the pollsters and pundits been proven wrong? There’s a definite chance that the GOP could lose the majority in the Senate, and with that in play, will Florida voters be able to accept Rubio’s change of heart? We shall have to see.