By Tyler Pruett
tyler@southerntorch.com
On December 1, Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio will be holding his first rally and private fundraisers in Alabama. The rally will be held at the Guntersville Recreation Center from 4:15 p.m. till 5:00 p.m. Senator Rubio will also be attending private fundraisers at Dream Ranch Guntersville as well as the Mountain Brook home of state Senator Slade Blackwell. Despite this being his first visit to our state, Sen. Rubio has already established both Twitter and Facebook accounts for his Alabama efforts, as well as naming Representative Will Ainsworth (R - Guntersville) and Former Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead as co-chairs. He has also received several endorsements from state Republicans, including Sen. Cam Ward and Rep. Danny Garrett.
The latest polling data suggests that Rubio is neck-and-neck with Dr. Ben Carson for second place in New Hampshire, where the first primary votes will be cast on February 9, 2016. Rubio’s support has steadily risen both in early primary states and nationally over the last couple of months, where businessman Donald Trump and Carson’s support is slowly waning. This is in large part to his debate performances, where he is commonly declared the winner by pundits and insiders. He also has gained attention for promoting vocational education, and criticizing Democrats for not referring to terrorism as, “radical Islam.”
2015 has already seen visits by Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, John Kasich, Rand Paul, and Bernie Sanders, with many already announcing additional visits. Such attention is usually unheard of in this state. This is due in large part to the creation of the Southern Super Tuesday or also referred to as the “SEC Primary.” In an effort to raise the South’s political clout, five of the largest southern states(Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia) decided to hold primary elections on March 1, 2016. This change was made at the Secretary of State’s office with the support of the legislature. On this change, Secretary of State John Merrill said, “We are very pleased with how the SEC primary has developed and what it means for our people to have personal interactions with these candidates.” On Rubio’s visit, Merrill commented, “Sen. Rubio has energized the electorate during his recent debate performances, and there is no doubt that he’ll be very well received in our state.”
The rally at the Guntersville Recreation Center will be open to the public. More information on the private events will be released on the Secretary of State’s website as the information becomes available.
