2016 United States Senate election in Florida

The 2016 United States Senate election in Florida was held November 8, 2016 to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Florida, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primary elections for both the Republicans and Democrats took place on August 30, 2016.

Incumbent Republican Senator Marco Rubio ran for another term but faced well-funded Republican primary opposition after initially announcing he would not seek re-election to his Senate seat. He had openly considered whether to seek re-election or run for president in 2016. He stated in April 2014 that he would not run for both the Senate and president in 2016, as Florida law prohibits a candidate from simultaneously appearing twice on a ballot, but did not rule out running for either office.

However, in April 2015, Rubio announced that he was running for President and would not seek re-election. Rubio had initially said he would not run for re-election to the Senate even if he dropped out of the GOP presidential primary before he would have to qualify for the 2016 Senate primary ballot, for which the filing deadline was June 24, 2016.

On June 13, 2016, despite his previous statements that he would not run for re-election to his Senate seat, Rubio "seemed to open the door to running for re-election," citing the previous day's mass shooting in Orlando and how "it really gives you pause, to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country." On June 22, 2016, Rubio announced that he would seek re-election to the Senate, reversing his pledge not to run.

On August 30, the Republican Party nominated Marco Rubio, and the Democratic Party nominated Representative Patrick Murphy. Rubio won with the largest raw vote total in Florida history (until Donald Trump broke the record in 2020), taking a greater percentage of the popular vote than Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who won the state in the election. He is the first Republican Senator from Florida since 1994, and only the second with Connie Mack, to be reelected to a second term. Also, with Mel Martinez's victory in 2004, this marks the first time that Republicans have won one of Florida's Senate seats three times in a row ( Mack succeeded Lawton Chiles, a Democrat, and was succeeded by another Democrat, Bill Nelson).

Marco Rubio won 48% of the Hispanic vote and 17% of the African American vote during this election, an exceptional number for a Republican during a presidential year. Additionally, Rubio's raw vote total was the highest vote total for any Republican Senate candidate up until Texas Senator John Cornyn broke it in 2020.

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

* Carlos Beruff, real estate developer and chair of the Florida Commission on Healthcare and Hospital Funding
* Ernie Rivera, businessman
* Marco Rubio, incumbent U.S. Senator
* Dwight Young, Pinellas County Sheriff's deputy

Withdrawn

* Ron DeSantis, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Mary Elisabeth Godwin, pastor
* David Jolly, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Carlos Lopez-Cantera, Lieutenant Governor of Florida
* Todd Wilcox, businessman and former CIA case officer

Declined

* Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer of Florida
* Rick Baker, former mayor of St. Petersburg
* Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General
* Dan Bongino, radio host, former Secret Service agent, and nominee for the U.S. Senate from Maryland in 2012 and for MD-06 in 2014 (running for FL-19)
* Vern Buchanan, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former candidate for President in 2016
* Curt Clawson, U.S. Representative
* Randy Fine, businessman
* Anitere Flores, state senator (ran for reelection)
* Don Gaetz, state senator and former State Senate President
* Mike Haridopolos, former President of the Florida Senate and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2012
* George LeMieux, former U.S. Senator
* Connie Mack IV, former U.S. Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2012
* Bill McCollum, former Florida Attorney General, former U.S. Representative, nominee for U.S. Senate in 2000, candidate in 2004 and candidate for governor in 2010
* John Mica, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Jeff Miller, U.S. Representative
* Adam Putnam, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and former U.S. Representative
* Francis Rooney, former United States Ambassador to the Holy See (ran for U.S. House)
* Tom Rooney, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Dennis A. Ross, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)
* Joe Scarborough, cable news personality and former U.S. Representative
* Will Weatherford, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives
* Daniel Webster, U.S. Representative
* Allen West, former U.S. Representative
* Ted Yoho, U.S. Representative (ran for reelection)

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

* Rocky De La Fuente, businessman, candidate for president in 2016, and American Delta Party and Reform Party nominee for president in 2016
* Alan Grayson, U.S. Representative
* Pam Keith, attorney, former Judge Advocate in the U.S. Navy, and daughter of former Ambassador Kenton Keith
* Reginald Luster, attorney
* Patrick Murphy, U.S. Representative

Withdrawn

* Lateresa Jones, life coach and independent candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014 (running as an Independent)

Declined

* Bob Buckhorn, Mayor of Tampa
* Kathy Castor, U.S. Representative
* Charlie Crist, former Republican Governor of Florida, independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 and Democratic nominee for governor in 2014 (running for the U.S. House of Representatives)
* Ted Deutch, U.S. Representative (running for re-election)
* Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando
* Dan Gelber, former Minority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives, former state senator and nominee for Florida Attorney General in 2010
* Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee
* Philip Levine, Mayor of Miami Beach
* Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Representative and former Chair of the Democratic National Committee (running for re-election)

Endorsements

Polling

* * Internal poll for Alan Grayson

Results

Libertarian primary

On October 1, 2015, Adrian Wyllie and Lynn House, chair and vice chair, respectively, of the Libertarian Party of Florida, resigned their seats in protest after the executive committee refused to oust candidate Augustus Invictus from the party. According to Wyllie, Invictus had defended eugenics, called for a new Civil War, and brutally slaughtered a goat, and is not representative of the Libertarian Party. Invictus has refuted these claims, calling Wyllie's accusations, "deliberate misrepresentation "

Candidates

Declared

* Augustus S. Invictus, attorney
* Paul Stanton, IT technician and U.S. Army veteran

Declined

* Roger Stone, political consultant, lobbyist and strategist

Endorsements

Results

Independent

Candidates

Declared

* Basil Dalack, attorney and former Tequesta Village Councilman
* Lateresa Jones, life coach and candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014
* Anton "Tony" Khoury, businessman
* Steven Machat, music producer
* Bruce Nathan, physical therapist

No party affiliation

Candidates

Declared
* Bruce Nathan, physical therapist

General election

Debates

Predictions

Polling

;with Ron DeSantis

;with David Jolly

;with Carlos Lopez-Cantera

;with Jeff Atwater

;with Pam Bondi

;with Don Gaetz

;with Jeff Miller

;with Marco Rubio

;with Allen West

;with Todd Wilcox

;with Carlos Beruff

;with Alan Grayson

Results

See also

* United States Senate elections, 2016

References

External links

;Official campaign websites

Marco Rubio (R) for Senate

Patrick Murphy (D) for Senate

Paul Stanton (L) for Senate

Tony Khoury (I) for Senate

Bruce Nathan (Unaffiliated) for Senate

{{2016 United States elections

Florida
2016
2016 Florida elections
Marco Rubio