Republican Marco Rubio rode a rising national GOP tsunami to an easy trip to the U.S. Senate Tuesday, getting help from a divided Democratic electorate split by Charlie Crist’s independent bid.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants and a former speaker of the state House, was one of several conservatives swept into office Tuesday as an angry electorate protested the policies of President Barack Obama and the Democratic Congress. While Republicans were poised to take control of the U.S. House, it wasn’t clear yet whether they’d take the Senate. The Florida seat that Rubio was taking had already been in GOP hands.
Rubio, 39, ran as a fiscal conservative who will fight against Obama’s policies, and was a Tea Party favorite. He was so popular with conservative Republicans that Crist, an extremely popular governor, quit the GOP primary when it became apparent he would lose to Rubio.
While running as an independent, Crist clearly staked out Democratic positions, posing himself as an alternative to Rubio with a legitimate chance to win, unlike, he said, Meek.
Meek, who left a safe U.S. House seat for the run, was in third place in most polls for much of the race – and it got worse for him as time went on, as Crist began telling Democrats they should go with him if they wanted to keep Rubio out of Congress.
The race got heated, but both Crist and Meek offered gracious concessions early in the evening Tuesday, Rubio said.
And as he did during the campaign, Rubio said he wanted to return the GOP to promises it has made but not kept, to control spending and lower taxes.
“We make a grave mistake if we believe these results are an embrace of the Republican Party,” Rubio said at a victory party in Coral Gables. “What they are is a second chance.”
The seat is being vacated by caretaker U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, who was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist to fill a vacancy – but supported Rubio in the race. The seat became vacant when former U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez quit early.
Several Republicans praised Rubio with backhanded final slaps at Crist, who Republicans derided as willing to compromise principle to get elected.
“Through it all Marco never compromised his beliefs for momentary fame, he never traded his take on the issues for votes from interest groups, and as a result voters are sending a United States senator to Washington who they can trust to stand up for Florida regardless of the circumstance,” said incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon.
Meek lamented the role Crist played in the race, saying that his willingness to float between the two parties was not a virtue, as Crist had argued, but a vice.
“The lifelong bedrock that makes our party great and this nation flourish is rooted in principles of equality and social justice, of protecting our environment and defending a woman’s right to choose,” Meek said in a short concession speech. “These are not sometime Democratic values, but all-the-time Democratic values. On our essential beliefs, we can never compromise because too many people in the generations preceding us have toiled and struggled for the liberties we now enjoy and the way of life we deserve.”
Sen. Tony Hill, D-Jacksonville, mourned the third-place finish by his friend Meek, with whom he had a sit-in in former Gov. Jeb Bush’s office with when the pair opposed Bush’s “One Florida” anti-affirmative action hiring proposal.
But not only did Meek and Crist split the vote – both ran into a buzzsaw in Rubio on a night when conservatives around the country were enthusiastic to send a message to Washington. And Rubio was a formidable messenger, Hill said.
“We were hoping the numbers would’ve been a little closer, but you have to remember the guy (Rubio) ran a sitting governor out of his own party,” said Hill.
By David Royse
The News Service of Florida
