MEMO: Marco Rubio’s record of failing to show up for Florida

August 24, 2022

TO: Interested Parties

FR: Grant Fox, Senate Communications Advisor

RE: Marco Rubio’s record of failing to show up for Florida 

The Florida Senate race presents a clear choice for Floridians between Marco Rubio, a career politician who doesn’t show up for work, and Chief Val Demings, who spent her career working on behalf of everyday Floridians. 

Marco Rubio has earned one of the worst attendance records in the Senate, and consistently caves to the policy agenda of his party bosses and donors, even when it hurts middle class Floridians. On the other hand, Chief Val Demings has spent her career working on behalf of everyday Floridians, serving in the Orlando police force for 27 years while cutting violent crime by 40% as the city’s first female chief of police.

As Chief Demings continues to out-raise Marco Rubio and gain ground in the polls, Rubio’s campaign is struggling to keep up. He’s continually been outraised and is facing tough questions about his failure to show up for work and votes against lowering the cost of living. 

Career politician Marco Rubio barely shows up for work, and votes against what’s best for Florida when he does.  

The last time Marco Rubio ran for office, he spent months telling Floridians that he didn’t want to keep his job in the Senate. He all but stopped showing up for work in the Senate during his failed campaign for president, and was even asked on the debate stage whether he hated his job.

Six years later, Marco Rubio is still behaving like he doesn’t care about doing his job. He’s missed more votes than nearly 75% of Senators and hardly shows up to key committee hearings, skipping important discussions on protecting Social Security and Medicare, lowering prescription drug prices, helping small business owners, and protecting America’s interests abroad. His failure to show up for work has made headlines throughout the campaign. 

When Rubio does show up for work, he takes positions against what’s best for Florida. Here are just a few examples of Rubio looking out for his own interests at Florida’s expense:

• Rubio sided with his drug industry donors and voted against the Inflation Reduction Act, calling its plans to lower the cost of health care for Floridians “garbage.” Rubio even voted against a bipartisan amendment to the bill that would have capped insulin costs at $35. 

• He opposed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment And Jobs Act, which will help lower costs for Floridians by repairing the state’s roads, investing in our ports, and protecting vital infrastructure from flooding. 

• Rubio voted against the CHIPS and Science Act, bipartisan legislation to help lower costs for Floridians and invest in American manufacturing to help businesses compete with their rivals in China. 

• He voted against the bipartisan Safer Communities Act to reduce gun violence, breaking his promises to Floridians that he made in the wake of the Parkland shooting. 

• Rubio has doubled down on his extreme position on abortion, supporting abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest, and introducing legislation that would jail doctors for providing reproductive health care. 

• When it comes to protecting Social Security and Medicare, critical programs that a significant share of Floridians rely on, Rubio has a years-long history of trying to undermine seniors’ earned benefits. 
  • While running for president in 2016, Rubio called for raising the retirement age and privatizing Medicare, and doubled down on this idea on stage at a debate in Miami.
  • After voting for massive tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefited corporations and the wealthy back in 2017, Rubio proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare to help pay for it.
  • Rubio’s recently-released paid leave proposal cuts Social Security benefits for any parent who participates in the program.  

Rubio’s positions are out of line with what Floridians want. Polls show the majority of Florida voters oppose the kinds of extreme abortion bans Rubio supports and favor the gun safety measures Rubio recently voted against. The provisions to lower health care costs and invest in American manufacturing that he opposed are broadly popular with both Democrats and Republicans. While Floridians demand he take action to lower the cost of living and address the state’s affordable housing crisis, Rubio has refused to step up. 

The bottom line: As Floridians tune in to the general election, they’ll see a clear contrast between Chief Demings’ record of fighting for them and Marco Rubio’s record of failing to do his job. Over the past six years, Rubio has sent a clear message to Floridians: he thinks showing up to work and fighting for them is a “waste of time.” Instead of working to lower the cost of living and protect Floridians’ rights, Rubio is skipping out on his job and protecting the special interests who fund his campaigns. As much as he tries to distract from his record, Rubio can’t hide that he puts his donors and party bosses ahead of what’s best for our state.