Floridians hope for a serious consolation prize for Rubio

In the end, Florida was the problem for Marco Rubio.

Former President Donald Trump skipped over his fellow Floridian to be his running mate on Monday. That means Rubio is staying in the Senate, at least for now.

Rubio’s Florida residency remained a consistent concern for Trump and his campaign, POLITICO previously reported . Though Trump is far from a stranger to litigation, he and his team were worried about potential legal hurdles that might arise with a Rubio ticket, given the 12th Amendment’s language that says president and vice presidential nominees need to come from different states or otherwise they will lose their shared home state’s electors.

Eric Trump told Florida Republicans gathered for a breakfast Tuesday that Rubio was an “incredible guy” but added that his father felt a special “chemistry” with J.D. Vance, especially given the business background they both share.

It’s a setback for Rubio, who sought the White House himself in 2016 before being crushed by Trump, and also freezes Florida politics — for now. It means Gov. Ron DeSantis won’t get the all-important job of appointing Rubio’s replacement , which would have had cascading implications for several 2026 races.

Trump is also signaling that he sees Vance as the heir to the MAGA movement, complicating possible presidential runs for Rubio or DeSantis in 2028.

But Florida Republicans are hoping for a plumb consolation prize for their state’s senior senator, who is currently serving as vice chair of the Intel Committee and as part of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Several Floridians who spoke to POLITICO floated Rubio as a potential secretary of state pick should Trump win, leaning on his experience in the Senate and the fact that he’s already extensively been vetted multiple times.

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis called the possibility that Rubio would be considered for secretary of state a “no brainer,” and said that while he would have liked to have seen him make the ticket, he could understand why the campaign wouldn’t want to derail Trump’s recent momentum by facing possible new legal challenges.

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) said that when he and Rubio campaigned together in 2022, “we had an ability to talk about geopolitical positions, the various nuances, and how domestic and foreign policies are intrinsically linked," he said.

When POLITICO caught up with Palm Beach County commissioner Michael Barnett, who was the former GOP chair for the county, he had just heard the running mate news. He too raised the prospect of Rubio joining a future Trump administration as secretary of state, where he could lead on issues from the border to Cuba policy, but added that he could still be valuable to Trump by remaining the senior senator from Florida. Rubio would have even more power if Republicans flip the Senate.

“My understanding is he's always been supportive of President Trump, especially during his four years, on matters involving South America, Central America,” Barnett said.

This post first appeared in Florida Playbook, POLITICO’s must-read daily briefing on the Sunshine State. Sign up to receive Florida Playbook in your inbox every weekday.