Marco Rubio: Florida Senate
Once a long shot with a 30-point deficit on a quaint ideological quest, Marco Rubio, the former Florida state house speaker, now holds a slight advantage over Governor Charlie Crist in the latest Quinnipiac poll. The image of Rubio in his camp is the same one that resonates with the Tea Party voters many Republicans will be courting this year: a fresh-faced fiscal conservative who did not support the stimulus bill, as Crist did, or waver on bedrock conservative issues. "I have a feeling the situation in Iran would be a little different if they had a 2nd amendment like ours," Rubio tweeted last June in a typical show of bravado. Though it's still early in the process, both Republican contenders hold steady against Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek, a Congressman from North Miami. A win for Rubio would send a message to the established Republican Party in Florida: Don't settle in. Change is afoot.