Report: Rep. DeSantis To Run for Rubio’s Senate Seat

U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is set to announce on Wednesday that he is officially running for the seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who is running for president.

DeSantis will make the announcement by releasing a statement, according to a report from the Associated Press. Two advisers close to DeSantis confirmed the Congressman’s plans to AP reporter Brendan Farrington on the condition of anonymity.

DeSantis is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, as well as a veteran of the U.S. Navy who served in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and was deployed to Iraq in 2007 as a legal advisor to SEAL Team One. First elected to Congress in 2012, DeSantis easily won re-election last fall.

As Breitbart News reported, DeSantis had released a statement last month praising Rubio’s service in the Senate and saying that he was considering running for his seat. Several prominent conservative groups cheered the idea of DeSantis running for Senate and issued encouraging statements. They include Senate Conservatives Fund, Madison Project, Club for Growth, and Citizens United Political Victory Fund.

DeSantis will begin his Senate campaign with a war chest of more than $1 million in his House campaign account, which federal election law permits him to roll over into a Senate campaign.

So far, the only other candidate officially in the race is DeSantis’ Congressional colleague from the other side of the aisle, Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL). Others rumored to be considering running include Florida Lieutenant Governor Carlos Lopez-Cantera and Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL).

Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.