Possible presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took a hit this week as he landed on lists citing him as the senator who has missed the most votes in his four years in Congress.
That number is 99. [RELATED: Congress’ Absent Superstars: Sen. Rubio and Rep. Conyers]
On Wednesday, Rubio’s Deputy Press Secretary Brooke Sammon shot back at the assertion with an explanation of why he missed so many votes. He largely blamed family responsibilities. Interestingly, she noted that it’s not unusual for presidential candidates to miss votes. Of course she followed that up by saying Rubio hasn’t yet decided whether he is or isn’t making a bid for the White House.
“Senator Rubio takes his responsibilities as both a senator and a father seriously. The vast majority of missed votes are when the latter duties take precedent, and he needs to be in Miami for family commitments. He is one of the only senators with young children who has not moved his family to D.C., and tries to spend as much time in Florida with them as possible. In addition to his parental responsibilities, in recent years he’s also had to return to Florida and miss votes due to his mother’s health and civic responsibilities like jury duty. Normally when he misses votes, his vote would not have been decisive, but in those instances he tries to submit statements for the record or write a blog post explaining how he would have voted.”
As for why he has missed so many votes this year, Sammon said her boss is busy with a presidential campaign.
“It’s not unusual for presidential candidates to miss Senate votes. Senator Rubio has not made a final decision about 2016, but he’s seriously considering running for president and taking the necessary steps to prepare a competitive campaign. As he travels the country talking about his agenda to help the middle class, there will be no doubt where he stands on any important issues before the Senate.”