WASHINGTON – Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that he will run for re-election to the Senate, reversing his retirement plans under pressure from GOP leaders determined to hang onto his seat.
"In politics, admitting you've changed your mind is not something most people like to do. But here it goes," Rubio said in a statement. "I have decided to seek re-election to the United States Senate."
The 45-year-old first-term Florida senator has repeatedly said that he would become a private citizen if he didn't become the Republican nominee for president, but he told ABC News last week that he was reconsidering in the aftermath of the Orlando nightclub massacre that killed 49 people.
"I understand my opponents will try to use this decision to score political points against me," he said. "Have at it. Because I have never claimed to be perfect or to have all the answers."
Amid a pressure campaign led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and with Republicans at risk of losing their slim Senate majority in November's elections, GOP leaders were concerned that the Republican candidates who'd emerged for Rubio's seat were not up to the task of winning in a large, expensive state like Florida amid the intraparty uproar created by Donald Trump's candidacy.
"Control of the Senate may very well come down to the race in Florida," Rubio said. "That means the future of the Supreme Court will be determined by the Florida Senate seat. It means the future of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal will be determined by the Florida Senate seat. It means the direction of our country's fiscal and economic policies will be determined by this Senate seat. The stakes for our nation could not be higher."
Rubio also said there is reason to worry whether Hillary Clinton or Trump become president.
"With Hillary Clinton, we would have four more years of the same failed economic policies that have left us with a stagnant economy," Rubio said. "We would have four more years of the same failed foreign policy that has allowed radical Islam to spread and terrorists to be released from Guantanamo."
Rubio said a Clinton presidency "would be a repeat of the early years of the current administration."
After criticizing Clinton, Rubio went on to describe his disagreements with Trump.
"It is no secret that I have significant disagreements with Donald Trump," Rubio said. "His positions on many key issues are still unknown. And some of his statements, especially about women and minorities, I find not just offensive but unacceptable. If he is elected, we will need senators willing to encourage him in the right direction and, if necessary, stand up to him. I've proven a willingness to do both."
The announcement comes just days ahead of Friday's filing deadline for Rubio's seat.
I have only said like 10000 times I will be a private citizen in January.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 17, 2016
Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera also announced Wednesday that he will not file the paperwork necessary to run for Senate in the Aug. 30 primary, instead choosing to stand behind Rubio.
"As his friend, I know this was a thoughtful yet difficult decision that was made with our country's best interest at heart," Lopez-Cantera said in a statement. "Florida needs a principled conservative leader now more than ever, and that is what Marco has been and will continue to be."
Lopez-Cantera also encouraged the other Republican candidates to unite in support of Rubio.
"This isn't Marco Rubio's seat; this is Florida's seat," Republican developer Carlos Beruff said in a statement Wednesday. "The power brokers in Washington think they can control this race. They think they can tell the voters of Florida who their candidates are. But the voters of Florida will not obey them."
Rubio said he made the decision at his West Miami home with his wife and four children during Father's Day weekend.
"In the end, there was simply too much at stake for any other choice," Rubio said.
U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is the leading candidate for the Democrats, but he must first get through the primary against liberal firebrand Rep. Alan Grayson of Orlando.