This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since October 2010. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since October 2010. It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since May 2008. The notability of this article's subject is in question. If notability cannot be established, it may be listed for deletion or removed. Tagged since May 2008.

Teen Age Republicans or "TARs" is a political youth organization that is an official auxiliary to the United States Republican Party. There are various TAR clubs throughout the United States, at county and state levels. TAR has a presence in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, and has membership in the tens of thousands. Clubs are organized on and off campus into middle school, high school, home-schooled, county and city clubs.^{[citation needed]} The oldest recorded Teen Age Republican Federation is in South Dakota. This Federation was formed in 1960.^[1]

TAR provides support to the Republican party and its candidates. TAR members work across the United States to perform community service, develop leadership skills, gain first-hand knowledge of practical political process and apply all these to sway elections in the favor of the Republican Party.^{[citation needed]}

Organization[link]

TAR is organized in chapters across United States. There are federations in most states, and clubs in counties and high schools. The organization structure consists of:

• National TAR office - serves only two main functions:
  1. provide information on existing clubs and/or provide resources and advice on starting a club in areas that do not already have one
  2. organise the national Teenage Republican Leadership Conference (TLC) and awards ceremony

• State and Regional TAR federations - similar to the Republican Party, the majority of TAR activity takes place on the State level:
  • sometimes receive some financial support from their state Party
  • most have an elected executive board with its own constitution
  • organize statewide events (e.g. summer camp, mock legislative sessions)

• County and Local Clubs - sub-ordinate to state organizations
  • formed at county, city or school level
  • similar structure and activities to state federations, albeit at a more local level

Teenage Republican Leadership Conference[link]

Every year since the 1970's, National TARs has hosted the TeenAge Republican Leader Conference (aka TLC) for TARs to come and meet members of Congress, learn club and federation development, and to meet other TARs from across the country. During TLC, National TARs also hosts its annual Awards Ceremony where TARs can apply and win awards such as "Outstanding TAR In the Nation", "Outstanding TAR Club in the Nation", as well as many other awards.

TARs state and regional federations[link]

• Arizona Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• [www.floridatars.org Florida Federation of TeenAge Republicans]
• Kansas Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• New England Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• Michigan Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• Minnesota Teenage Republicans
• New England Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• North Carolina Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• South Dakota Federation of TeenAge Republicans
• Utah Federation of TeenAge Republicans

Notable alumni[link]

• Lee Atwater- Former Chairman of the Republican National Committee
• Karl Rove- Former Deputy White House Chief of Staff
• David Schweikert- US Representative from Arizona
• Joe Wilson- US Representative from South Carolina

See also[link]

• College Republicans
• College Republican National Committee
• Georgia Teen Republicans
• Republican National Committee

References[link]

External links[link]

• National TARS

v t e Republican Party Chairpersons of the RNC Morgan Raymond Ward Claflin Morgan Chandler Cameron Jewell Sabin Jones Quay Clarkson Carter Hanna Payne Cortelyou New Hitchcock Hill Rosewater Hilles Wilcox Hays Adams Butler Work Huston Fess Sanders Fletcher Hamilton Martin Walsh Spangler Brownell Reece Scott Gabrielson Summerfield Roberts Hall Alcorn T. B. Morton Miller Burch Bliss R. Morton Dole Bush Smith Brock Richards Fahrenkopf Atwater Yeutter Bond Barbour Nicholson Gilmore Racicot Gillespie Mehlman Martinez Duncan Steele Priebus Presidential tickets Frémont/Dayton Lincoln/Hamlin Lincoln/Johnson Grant/Colfax Grant/Wilson Hayes/Wheeler Garfield/Arthur Blaine/Logan Harrison/Morton Harrison/Reid McKinley/Hobart McKinley/Roosevelt Roosevelt/Fairbanks Taft/Sherman Taft/Sherman/Butler Hughes/Fairbanks Harding/Coolidge Coolidge/Dawes Hoover/Curtis (twice) Landon/Knox Willkie/McNary Dewey/Bricker Dewey/Warren Eisenhower/Nixon (twice) Nixon/Lodge Goldwater/Miller Nixon/Agnew (twice) Ford/Dole Reagan/G. H. W. Bush (twice) G. H. W. Bush/Quayle (twice) Dole/Kemp G. W. Bush/Cheney (twice) McCain/Palin Romney/TBD (presumptive) Parties by state and territory State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Territory District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Conventions (List) 1856 (Philadelphia) 1860 (Chicago) 1864 (Baltimore) 1868 (Chicago) 1872 (Philadelphia) 1876 (Cincinnati) 1880 (Chicago) 1884 (Chicago) 1888 (Chicago) 1892 (Minneapolis) 1896 (Saint Louis) 1900 (Philadelphia) 1904 (Chicago) 1908 (Chicago) 1912 (Chicago) 1916 (Chicago) 1920 (Chicago) 1924 (Cleveland) 1928 (Kansas City) 1932 (Chicago) 1936 (Cleveland) 1940 (Philadelphia) 1944 (Chicago) 1948 (Philadelphia) 1952 (Chicago) 1956 (San Francisco) 1960 (Chicago) 1964 (San Francisco) 1968 (Miami Beach) 1972 (Miami Beach) 1976 (Kansas City) 1980 (Detroit) 1984 (Dallas) 1988 (New Orleans) 1992 (Houston) 1996 (San Diego) 2000 (Philadelphia) 2004 (New York) 2008 (St. Paul) 2012 (Tampa) Affiliated organizations College Republicans Congressional Hispanic Conference International Democrat Union Log Cabin Republicans National Republican Congressional Committee National Republican Senatorial Committee Republican Conference of the United States House of Representatives Republican Conference of the United States Senate Republican Governors Association Republican Jewish Coalition Republican Liberty Caucus Republican Main Street Partnership Republican Majority for Choice Republican National Coalition for Life Republican National Hispanic Assembly Republican Study Committee Republicans Abroad Republicans for Environmental Protection The Ripon Society Teenage Republicans The Wish List Young Republicans Related articles History 2009 chairmanship election 2011 chairmanship election Bibliography Timeline of modern American conservatism Conservatism Portal

to show this template in its collapsed (hidden) state

Marco Rubio
United States Senator from Florida
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2011 Serving with Bill Nelson
Preceded by	George LeMieux
Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
In office January 2, 2007 – January 2, 2009
Preceded by	Allan Bense
Succeeded by	Ray Sansom
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 111th District
In office January 25, 2000 – January 2, 2009
Preceded by	Carlos Valdes
Succeeded by	Erik Fresen
Personal details
Born	Marco Antonio Rubio (1971-05-28) May 28, 1971 (age 41) Miami, Florida
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Jeanette Dousdebes
Children	4
Alma mater	University of Florida (B.A.) University of Miami (J.D.)
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic[1]
Website	www.rubio.senate.gov

Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is the junior United States Senator from Florida, serving since January 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives (2007–2009).

Born to Cuban immigrants, Rubio was raised in Miami, Florida, and Las Vegas, Nevada. He attended Tarkio College and Santa Fe Community College before graduating from the University of Florida. He earned his J.D. from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996 while interning for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In the late 1990s he served as a City Commissioner for West Miami. Rubio was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000, representing the 111th House district. He was elected Speaker in November 2006.

Rubio announced a run for U.S. Senate in May 2009 after incumbent Republican Mel Martinez resigned. Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Republican Governor Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed him in polling for the Republican nomination. Rubio won the Republican nomination after Crist opted instead for an independent run. In a three-way split against Crist and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, Rubio won the general election in November 2010 by a 19-point margin.

Rubio has been called the "crown prince" of the Tea Party movement.^[2][3] He has been mentioned as a potential choice for the Republican vice presidential nomination in 2012 but has said he is not interested.^[4]

Early life, education, and early political career[link]

Rubio was born in Miami, Florida,^[5] the second son and third child of Mario Rubio and Oria Garcia. His parents were Cubans who had emigrated to the United States in 1956 and were later naturalized as U.S. citizens in 1975.^[6] Rubio's family was Catholic, but from age 8 to age 11, he and his family attended The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while they lived in Las Vegas. He received his first communion as a Catholic in 1984, before moving back to Miami with his family a year later. He was confirmed and married in the Catholic Church.^{[7][1][8][9][10]}

Rubio attended South Miami Senior High School and graduated in 1989. He then attended Tarkio College for one year on a football scholarship from 1989 to 1990, before enrolling at Santa Fe Community College (now Santa Fe College). He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida in 1993, and his J.D. degree cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996.^[11]

While studying law, he interned for U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.^[12] Marco Rubio served as a City Commissioner for West Miami before being elected to the Florida legislature.^[13]

Florida House of Representatives (2000–2009)[link]

Rubio was elected to the Florida House of Representatives for the 111th district in a special election on January 25, 2000. He won each of his re-election bids.^[14] In November 2006, he was elected Speaker of the Florida House for the 2007–09 term.

He is the author of the book 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future. This book included information that Rubio compiled while traveling around the state and talking with citizens. This was done through what Rubio calls "Idearaisers". Many of the issues that he pushed for in his first year as speaker came from ideas in this book.^[15] During 2007, Marco Rubio championed a major overhaul of the Florida tax system, arguing it would reduce property taxes and decrease the size of government.^[16]

During his tenure serving as Speaker of the Florida House, Rubio shared his residence with another Florida State Representative, David Rivera. The two men co-owned a home together in Tallahassee, which later fell into foreclosure after deferring months of mortgage payments. This issue surfaced in June 2010, during Rubio's run for the US Senate but was considered resolved according to Rubio's spokesman.^[17]

U.S. Senate (2011–present)[link]

2010 election[link]

Rubio speaking at CPAC in February 2010.

On May 5, 2009, Rubio announced on his website that he planned to run for the United States Senate in 2010 for the Republican seat being vacated by Sen. Mel Martinez, who had resigned and been replaced by George LeMieux. Prior to the announcement, he had been meeting with fundraisers and supporters throughout the state.^[18] Initially trailing by double-digits against the incumbent Governor of his own party, Charlie Crist, Rubio eventually surpassed Crist in polling for the Republican nomination.^[19][20]

On April 28, 2010, Crist announced he would be running as an independent, effectively ceding the Republican nomination to Rubio.^[21] Several of Crist's top fundraisers, as well as Republican leadership, refused^[22][23] to support Crist after Rubio won the Republican nomination for Senate.^[24]

On November 2, 2010, Marco Rubio won the senatorial election with 48.9% of the vote to Crist's 29.7% and Democrat Kendrick Meek's 20.1%.^[25] On May 20, 2011, Marco Rubio visited Puerto Rico's governor, Luis Fortuño, and made a statement of wanting to "represent the Puerto Ricans" since he already felt he owed those who had voted for him in the Florida election.^[26]

Following his victory in the elections, Rubio soon became the subject of speculation as a potential GOP candidate for the presidential election of 2012.^[27][28] Rubio stated shortly after taking office that he has no interest in running for president or vice president in 2012.^[29]

Tenure[link]

Upon taking office, Rubio hired Cesar Conda, former lobbyist and "top domestic policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney during the first two years of the Bush administration" as his Chief of Staff.^[30]

Rubio is also a member of the Congressional Hispanic Conference.^{[citation needed]}

Rubio cosponsored a resolution, which was passed, to declare September as National Spinal Cord Injury Awareness Month.^[31]

Rubio's amendment, co-sponsored by Joe Manchin (D – WV), to allow employers to be exempted from newly mandated coverage for contraception, based on religious or moral grounds by such employers, did not pass the Senate.^[32] The Obama White House singled out Rubio from the many co-sponsors of the similar Roy Blunt amendment, which also failed to pass the Senate.^[33]

Committee assignments[link]

• Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard
  • Subcommittee on Science and Space
  • Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security
• Committee on Foreign Relations
  • Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs (Ranking Member)
  • Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs
  • Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
  • Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance, Economic Affairs, and International Environmental Protection
• Select Committee on Intelligence
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

Personal life[link]

Rubio married Jeanette Dousdebes, a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, in 1997. She is of Colombian descent, and together they have four children named Amanda, Daniella, Anthony, and Dominic.^[34] Rubio and his family live in West Miami, Florida.^[1][35] Rubio attends Catholic Mass as well as a Southern Baptist church in West Kendall, Florida.^[36][8][37]

"Son of exiles" controversy[link]

In October 2011, the St. Petersburg Times and The Washington Post reported that Rubio's previous statements that his parents were forced to leave Cuba in 1959, after Fidel Castro came to power, were incorrect as they had in fact left Cuba in 1956 during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. According to The Washington Post, Rubio's "embellishments" resonate with many voters in Florida, who would not be as impressed by his family being economic migrants seeking a better life in the U.S. instead of political refugees from a communist regime.^[6] Rubio responded, "The real essence of my family’s story is not about the date my parents first entered the United States. Or whether they traveled back and forth between the two nations. Or even the date they left Fidel Castro’s Cuba forever and permanently settled here."^[38][39][40] According to a number of commentators within the Cuban exile community in Miami, Rubio is justified to continue to characterize himself as a son of exiles.^[40][41]

Electoral history[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marco Rubio

	Biography portal
	Florida portal
	Politics portal

• Senator Marco Rubio official U.S. Senate website
• Marco Rubio for U.S. Senate official campaign site
• Biography at WhoRunsGov.com at The Washington Post
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post
• Biography, voting record, and interest group ratings at Project Vote Smart
• Congressional profile at GovTrack
• Congressional profile at OpenCongress
• Issue positions and quotes at On the Issues
• Financial information at OpenSecrets.org
• Staff salaries, trips and personal finance at LegiStorm.com
• Campaign finance reports and data at the Federal Election Commission
• Campaign contributions at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
• Appearances on C-SPAN programs
• Appearances at the Internet Movie Database
• Collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Collected news and commentary at The Guardian

v t e United States Senators from Florida Class 1 Yulee Mallory, Sr. Welch Gilbert Jones Pasco Taliaferro N. Bryan Trammell Loftin Andrews Holland Chiles Mack Nelson Class 3 Westcott Morton Yulee Osborn Conover Call Mallory, Jr. W. Bryan Milton Fletcher Hill Pepper Smathers Gurney Stone Hawkins Graham Martinez LeMieux Rubio

v t e Current statewide political officials of Florida U.S. Senators Bill Nelson Marco Rubio State government Rick Scott, Governor Jennifer Carroll, Lieutenant Governor Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer Pam Bondi, Attorney General Adam Putnam, Commissioner of Agriculture Senate Mike Haridopolos, President Andy Gardiner, Majority Leader Nan Rich, Minority Leader House Dean Cannon, Speaker Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Majority Leader Ronald Saunders, Minority Leader Supreme Court (appointed) Charles T. Canady, Chief Justice Barbara Pariente R. Fred Lewis Peggy Quince Ricky Polston Jorge Labarga James E.C. Perry AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY