--- title: Marco Rubio: Antonin Scalia's Death 'Refocused' 2016 Race description: The issue of Supreme Court appointments has taken center stage in the GOP presidential primary this week canonical: https://time.com/4225408/marco-rubio-antonin-scalias-death-2016-race/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-16T11:59:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:06:06.815Z article:section: Politics og:title: Marco Rubio: Antonin Scalia's Death 'Refocused' 2016 Race og:description: The issue of Supreme Court appointments has taken center stage in the GOP presidential primary this week og:url: https://time.com/4225408/marco-rubio-antonin-scalias-death-2016-race/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt155a9eecaf58c90e/69887dc3bc6cfcfdb83dbbfc/marco-rubio-scalia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to voters during a campaign event Feb. 15, 2016 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Marco Rubio: Antonin Scalia's Death 'Refocused' 2016 Race twitter:description: The issue of Supreme Court appointments has taken center stage in the GOP presidential primary this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt155a9eecaf58c90e/69887dc3bc6cfcfdb83dbbfc/marco-rubio-scalia.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rubio Says Scalia's Death 'Refocused' 2016 Race by [Alex Jaffe / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Alex Jaffe / NBC News Feb 16, 2016 11:59 AM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to voters during a campaign event Feb. 15, 2016 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks to voters during a campaign event Feb. 15, 2016 in Rock Hill, South Carolina.Alex Wong—Getty Images by [Alex Jaffe / NBC News](https://time.com/author/nbc-news/) ## Alex Jaffe / NBC News Feb 16, 2016 11:59 AM UTC COLUMBIA, South Carolina — Marco Rubio said [Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tributes-pour-justice-antonin-scalia-towering-figure-n518186) had “refocused” the presidential race Monday, bringing some “gravity” to the choice facing voters. “I think the Scalia death in many ways refocused this campaign,” the Florida senator told reporters aboard his campaign bus. “It’s like, hold on a second, this is not just about having somebody interesting there, about making a point or sending a message. This election is about electing someone who’s going to replace Scalia with someone… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/marco-rubio-says-antonin-scalia-s-death-refocused-2016-race-n519221) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4225408/marco-rubio-antonin-scalias-death-2016-race/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4225408/marco-rubio-antonin-scalias-death-2016-race/"},"headline":"Rubio Says Scalia's Death 'Refocused' 2016 Race","datePublished":"2016-02-16T11:59:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T15:06:06.815Z","description":"The issue of Supreme Court appointments has taken center stage in the GOP presidential primary this week","url":"https://time.com/4225408/marco-rubio-antonin-scalias-death-2016-race/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt155a9eecaf58c90e/69887dc3bc6cfcfdb83dbbfc/marco-rubio-scalia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Jaffe / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt155a9eecaf58c90e/69887dc3bc6cfcfdb83dbbfc/marco-rubio-scalia.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican presidential candidate Sen. 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