--- title: Marco Rubio Gears Up for Presidential Run, Plans Fundraising Stops description: The senator has told his team to "proceed as if he is running for president" canonical: https://time.com/3680046/marco-rubio-presidential-run/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-23T13:04:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T03:49:45.089Z article:section: Politics og:title: Marco Rubio Gears Up for Presidential Run, Plans Fundraising Stops og:description: The senator has told his team to "proceed as if he is running for president" og:url: https://time.com/3680046/marco-rubio-presidential-run/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99740dd43b8dd903/69877b8735ba6f4727c06add/marco-rubio.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Sen. Rubio (R-FL) Discusses Obama's Shift In Cuba Policy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marco Rubio Gears Up for Presidential Run, Plans Fundraising Stops twitter:description: The senator has told his team to "proceed as if he is running for president" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99740dd43b8dd903/69877b8735ba6f4727c06add/marco-rubio.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Marco Rubio Takes Steps Toward Presidential Run by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 23, 2015 1:04 PM UTC  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) reacts to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement about revising policies on U.S.-Cuba relations on December 17, 2014 in Washington, DC. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) reacts to U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement about revising policies on U.S.-Cuba relations on December 17, 2014 in Washington, DC.T.J. Kirkpatrick—Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 23, 2015 1:04 PM UTC Sen. Marco Rubio is making moves to launch a 2016 presidential bid and has even told his team to “proceed as if he is running for president,” [one senior adviser told ABC News](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-marco-rubio-moves-2016-presidential-bid/story?id=28415410). Rubio will reportedly skip votes in the Senate next week in favor of making fundraising stops in California, Texas and Illinois. An upcoming book tour will also take him through all of the early-voting primary states. Meanwhile, Anna Rogers of the conservative American Crossroads Super PAC will go to work for Rubio’s political action committee on Feb. 1 and will lead the charge to raise the $50 million the senator would need to run in the Republican primaries. Rubio is expected to make an official announcement in the coming weeks. \[[_ABC News_](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/exclusive-marco-rubio-moves-2016-presidential-bid/story?id=28415410)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3680046/marco-rubio-presidential-run/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3680046/marco-rubio-presidential-run/"},"headline":"Marco Rubio Takes Steps Toward Presidential Run","datePublished":"2015-01-23T13:04:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:49:45.089Z","description":"The senator has told his team to \"proceed as if he is running for president\"","url":"https://time.com/3680046/marco-rubio-presidential-run/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Sen. 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