‘I Would Pick Marco Rubio.’ Florida State Senator Discusses Direction Of GOP Post-Midterms: Exclusive

Following landslide losses for the Republican party in the midterm elections earlier this month, which saw Democrats win key races in several traditionally red-leaning states like Texas, Kansas and Mississippi, debate about the future ideological direction of the GOP, as well as who the party should nominate as its presidential candidate in 2028, has accelerated.

In conversation with International Business Times, Florida State Senator and Pro Tempore President of the Florida Senate Ana María Rodríguez spoke about her vision for the future of the governing party following the landslide defeat.

Although she declined to formally endorse any potential Republican presidential candidate, María Rodríguez had the most praise for Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a fellow Cuban-American Floridian.

"I think Marco is just a lightning rod for the Republican Party. He is somebody who has demonstrated tremendous leadership as our Secretary of State."

"He's very charismatic, he's very eloquent, he understands geopolitics and the impact that it has on our country. He's really a person who I think captures the essence of what I think an American president should be," the Floridian politician continued.

"If I had to pick one person today, I would pick Marco Rubio," the Republican concluded.

Florida presented a rare bright spot for the Republican party during the midterm vote, as the GOP retained key gubernatorial and Senate seats, albeit by narrower margins compared to previous election cycles.

María Rodríguez identified the aggressive deportation campaign enacted by the administration of President Donald Trump as a key reason for the declining popularity of the Republican party, particularly amongst Latino voters.

"I think that when Trump was advocating for deportation of criminals and closing the border, that was really the sweet spot that everybody was comfortable with, but then once you start deporting people who are not criminals, who are just trying to make a living and stay out of their country, which is probably a communist country or a totalitarian regime, then that's where it gets a little dicey."

The stats back her arguments up; a UnidosUS election poll reported that Democrats had picked up 67% of Latino votes in the 2026 election, compared to 56% in the 2024 presidential elections.

The poll also showed that 27% of Latino voters considered immigration and ICE reform one of the top three issues they wanted the upcoming Congress to address.

The surveys also showed 68% of Latinos reporting that they either "somewhat" or "strongly" disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration enforcement, with a further 76% reporting that they would support reforms that would "require ICE to wear clearly identifiable uniforms and body cameras, prohibit masks, and restrict their ability to use force."

The White House itself boasts that it has deported "more than 605,000 illegal aliens, with an additional 1.9 million self-deporting, bringing the total number of illegals who have left the U.S. since President Trump returned to office to over 2.5 million."

The scale of deportations caused rifts in the GOP even before the election; Republican Congresswoman for Florida's 27th Congressional District María Elvira Salazar publicly broke with Trump on the issue of immigration enforcement, telling the president that his immigration enforcement had "gone too far," warning him that "the same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today."

That split with Trump, according to María Rodríguez, helped her Florida Republican colleague get re-elected, given that the 27th District, located entirely within Miami-Dade county, is a heavily Hispanic area .

"I think María [Elvira Salazar] won because she separated from Trump on the immigration issue. I think that helped her," she said.

"I think the other issue that hurt us was the price of gasoline ... economic issues," María Rodríguez added.

The rise of domestic prices, largely driven by the shocks to the energy markets caused by U.S. hostilities with Iran, have been widely-cited as a key factor in voters backing the Democrats.

Election day polls showed that over 60% of voters felt that Trump's decision to go to war with Iran was the wrong one, while two thirds said that the current administration had "worsened economic conditions" in the U.S. and 79% said that higher inflation, which is partially attributable to the conflict in the Middle East, had caused them or their families "severe" or "moderate" hardship.

However, Trump's unpopular handling of the Iran War and related domestic economic issues did not deter María Rodríguez from praising the president's overall foreign policy agenda.

"If he had waited till after the election to engage with Iran, maybe that would have been better timing from a political standpoint, but again, midterms never go in the direction of the incumbent president anyway."

"He's [President Trump] always wanted to just do the right thing ... I respect his judgement, and I think, even on Iran, even though the gas prices went through the roof and so forth, I see the bigger picture of why he did what he did with Iran. He did the right thing by disarming them and doing things to perhaps weaken their nuclear program ... I think [that] shows a lot of strength and a lot of courage on his part," the Republican concluded.