When Republican billionaire donor Ken Griffin recently acknowledged that he would be open to back Secretary of State Marco Rubio if he ran of president in 2028 over Vice President JD Vance, the shot across the political was not made against VP Vance or President Donald Trump, but to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Griffin, who runs the Citadel hedge fund he founded, first donated to then-Senator Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign and has pumped millions of dollars into Governor Ron DeSantis 2018 election campaign and in his 2022 reelection bid.
If Griffin backs Secretary Rubio for president, more mega donors will follow, and that could be lights out for a DeSantis run for president.
Gov. DeSantis has been telling donors that he was looking at 2028 and is currently raising federal funds for his Restore Our Nation political action committee (RON PAC).
DeSantis recently held a RON PAC fundraiser in Palm Beach County. To date, RON PAC has a whopping  $5,699,699.34 in the bank.
Even though DeSantis has strong support in Florida over his tenure as governor, running against Rubio in 2028 could be another fools errand for the popular governor.
Just in Iowa, Rubio will shore up the evangelical vote. DeSantis won’t be able to, if runs in 2028.
Secretary Rubio and Governor DeSantis Could be Headed to a 2028 Presidential Showdown
The Rise of Rubio
Rubio lost to now-President Trump in 2016, but lived to fight another day.
During the 2024 presidential election, Senator Rubio was on the short list to become President Trump’s vice president, but at the eleventh hour, Donald Trump, Jr intervened and helped push then-Senator Vance in the job even though Susie Wiles anothers in that orbit were supportive of Rubio’s candidacy.
By not being chosen vice president, President Trump actually helped Rubio’s political career. He did him a favor.
Even though he was arguably President Trump’s strongest and most loyal ally in the U.S. Senate, helping him not just craft the president’s Western Hemisphere policy, but his overall foreign policy, Rubio was not keen on running for reelection to the upper chamber.
Actually, Rubio didn’t want to run for reelection after losing his presidential bid in 2016, but felt compelled to accept former Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plea for him to run for his senate seat.
Because of a week field of senatorial candidates, Republicans were on the verge of losing the seat to Democratic senatorial candidate Patrick Murphy.
Rubio stepped into the political breach and saved the seat.
It is still too early to crown Rubio as the Republican presidential nominee, but a recent poll shows that momentum may have already shifted in his favor.
Advantage Rubio
