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Democratic Senator Rubén Gallego warned this Tuesday that a potential presidential candidacy by Marco Rubio in 2028 could pose a significant challenge for Democrats due to the increasing influence of the Latino vote in the United States.
During the Latino Vote Summit held in Washington, D.C., the legislator from Arizona acknowledged that the current Secretary of State would have a special appeal among many Hispanic voters, regardless of ideological differences, reported CBS News.
"If Marco Rubio is the presidential candidate for the United States, we are in trouble," Gallego stated before strategists, pollsters, and political operators gathered to analyze the electoral behavior of the Latino community.
The senator, who won his seat in Arizona in 2024 with a 22-point lead among Hispanic voters in a state that supported Donald Trump, clarified that his concern does not lie in Rubio's political proposals, but in the symbolism that his candidacy would represent.
"Not because their policies will be excellent, but because there will undoubtedly be voters who will get excited to see the first Latino candidate for the presidency in a significant campaign," he explained.
Gallego's assessment was echoed by Mike Madrid, a Republican strategist specializing in the Hispanic vote and one of the most recognized voices in the analysis of Latino electoral trends.
"The Republican Party is much stronger among Latinos than people think. Having someone like Marco Rubio is a great advantage for the Republicans," Madrid stated to CBS News.
According to the consultant, a candidacy led by Rubio could significantly strengthen the Republican options at a time when both parties are preparing for the presidential battle of 2028.
The statements come as analyses continue regarding the shift observed among Hispanic voters in the 2024 elections, when Trump garnered nearly half of the Latino vote and achieved majority support from Hispanic men, a result that disrupted several traditional assumptions about this electorate.
Despite the attention that the migration issue typically receives, the experts gathered at the summit agreed that the primary concern for Latinos remains the economy.
Carlos Odio, co-founder of Equis Research, succinctly summed up that reality: "The economy, and the economy, and the economy."
Odio noted that Trump's approval rating on economic matters is below the levels recorded at this point in his first term and asserted that some polls show signs of recovery for the Democrats among Hispanic voters, although it remains unclear to what extent.
Gallego also took advantage of the forum to question his own party's strategy towards the Latino community.
"The Democratic Party still does not understand that there is no national Democratic Party without the Latino vote being part of that coalition," he stated. He also criticized progressive sectors that, according to him, operate under the premise that all Hispanics share leftist ideological positions.
Meanwhile, speculation about the Republican presidential succession continues to grow. A survey by Emerson College conducted in May revealed a technical tie between Vice President J.D. Vance and Rubio among Republican voters, with 36% and 35% support, respectively.
The evolution of those numbers has caught the analysts' attention. In February, Vance was leading by a wide margin with 52%, while Rubio barely reached 20%.
Donald Trump further fueled speculation on June 3 by stating that an eventual ticket made up of Vance and Rubio would be "very difficult to beat", although he refrained from explicitly endorsing either of the two.
The importance of this internal dispute could be crucial for the political future of the country. According to data from UnidosUS, about 36.2 million Latinos will be eligible to vote in the November 2026 elections, the highest number recorded to date, and 76% indicate that they are likely to go to the polls.
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