Marco Rubio announced on Friday that he is sending his Senate chief of staff on Capitol Hill to work on his political action committee – a signal that the Florida Republican may be gearing up for a White House run in 2016.
Rubio announced that Cesar Conda, his chief of staff since 2011, will join Reclaim America PAC as a senior advisor. He will also remain a part-time advisor in the Senate office.
“As we look forward to big things the rest of this year and beyond, this will allow us to maximize our team’s strengths as we work to outline a conservative governing vision for the 21st century and elect a Republican Senate majority,” Rubio said in a statement.
Conda is a veteran Republican aide, having formerly worked for Vice President Dick Cheney and former Sen. Spencer Abraham of Michigan. He served as an adviser on the 2008 Mitt Romney for President campaign and the 1996 Dole-Kemp campaign.
One longtime Washington insider who has known the aide for years told The Daily Caller on Friday he “couldn’t imagine Conda going to the PAC unless it was to set up a run or investigate seriously whether to do so.”
Rubio has acknowledged that he will have to decide whether to run again for the Senate or run for president in 2016.
Conda will be replaced in the Senate office by Alberto Martinez, who has served as Rubio’s deputy chief of staff since 2013.