Sen. Marco Rubio (R) is the son of Cuban immigrants and a law school student who came to be Florida’s youngest-ever state House speaker.
Currently third in the polls behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, Rubio’s been running an odd campaign, focusing mostly on his national presence and less in any of the early states.
He’s also visited Iowa far less than many of his competitors, which runs contrary to how most campaigns have been won in the past. And while many political analysts predict Rubio to keep his third place position, some believe the Florida senator could come out ahead of Cruz.
Here’s where Rubio stands on some of the big issues.
The budget: Balance the books and prioritize defense.
Rubio supports balancing the federal budget within 10 years, and he has long advocated freezing spending for everything but defense at 2008 levels.
“We have a world that’s out of control and a President that is weakening our military and making our foreign policy unstable and unreliable,” Rubio said last October during a CNBC debate. “They say there is no bipartisanship in Washington. We have a $19 trillion bipartisan debt, and it continues to grow as we borrow money from countries that do not like us to pay for government we cannot afford.”
Last year, the Florida senator proposed raising defense spending and voted for the Senate Republican plan, which balances the budget and cuts $4.3 trillion in spending. However, Rubio skipped a vote on the federal budget in December to campaign in Iowa instead.
Climate change: It’s real, but it’s not caused by man.
In 2015, Rubio supported a Senate measure stating that “climate change is real and not a hoax.”
On a separate vote, he opposed a measure, saying that human activity does not contribute to changing temperatures.
“Humans are not responsible for climate change in the way some of these people out there are trying to make us believe for the following reason: I believe the climate is changing because there’s never been a moment where the climate is not changing,” Rubio said last April. “Scientists can’t tell us what impact it would have on reversing these changes, but I can tell you with certainty it would have a devastating impact on our economy.”
Rubio has constantly taken this stance, stating that mankind is not having the effect on the climate that scientists portray.
Social issues: The Supreme Court decision on gay marriage is the law of the land, marriage is between a man and a woman and abortions should not happen after 20 weeks.
Last summer, Rubio disagreed with the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex unions in all fifty states, but he said Americans must abide by the ruling until he can have it “changed.”
“It is the current law. I don’t believe any case law is settled law,” Rubio said in a NBC interview. “Any future Supreme Court can change it.”
Personally, the Florida senator also said that he believes marriage is between a man and a woman.
Standing in support with Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Rubio believes some kinds of businesses, like wedding photography, should be allowed to turn away gay customers, and others, like hotels, should not.
On abortion issues, Rubio co-sponsored a 2013 Senate bill to ban abortion after 20 weeks from fertilization, making exceptions only for the life of the mother, rape or incest.
Taxes: Cut corporate taxes to 25 percent and add a $2,500 child tax credit.
Rubio proposes to simplify the tax code, outlining his tax reform plan in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal.
Rates for corporations would go down to 25 percent, and they would still be able to deduct the full cost of their capital expenses.
“The largest after-tax gains is for the people at the lower end of the tax spectrum under my plan. In addition to a general personal exemption, we are increasing the per-child tax credit for working families. We are lowering taxes on small business,” Rubio said in October 2015. “Under my plan, no business, big or small, will pay more than 25 percent flat rate on their business income. That is a dramatic tax decrease for hard-working people who run their own businesses.”
Capital gains taxes would be erased and families would be eligible for a new $2,500-per-child tax credit.
Islamic State: Increase the president’s power to combat the Islamic State.
Rubio said he wants to increase the president’s power to attack the Islamic State group and has strongly opposed the Obama administration’s war powers request, which would set a three-year time limit and rule out “enduring offensive ground combat operations.”
“As the terrorist group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) continues to capture and control more territory in Iraq and Syria, it is important to realize what is at stake in the region and for the American people,” Rubio said on his campaign website. “None of the options before us are ideal, but the question is whether we take action against ISIS now or deal with the consequences later here on U.S. soil. The stakes are too high for us to continue to ignore this problem.”
In addition, Rubio told Fox News he would like a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq to counteract Islamic State and other opposition forces.