Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio preparing for 2016 run: ABC

[January 23, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is preparing to launch a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, signing on a prominent fundraiser and planning trips to early voting states, ABC News reported on Friday, citing an adviser.

"He has told us to proceed as if he is running for president," a senior Rubio adviser was quoted as telling ABC.

Rubio has chosen Anna Rogers, the finance director for conservative group American Crossroads founded by former President George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove, to lead his fundraising effort, ABC reported.

Rogers will start work at Rubio’s political action committee on Feb. 1 and become the finance director of his presidential campaign, the network said. It did not identify the adviser.

Rubio, a Cuban American whose entry into the race was in question after fellow Florida Republican Jeb Bush, the son and brother of former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, moved toward a candidacy this month.

A Bush candidacy complicated the path to the White House for potential Republican rivals, including Mitt Romney, who ran unsuccessfully in 2008 and 2012. Other 2016 hopefuls competing for Republican fundraising dollars include New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

ABC News reported Rubio will make a fundraising trip through California next week and scheduled a book tour that will include stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida.

Rubio, 43, who served in the Florida legislature while Bush was governor, would compete with many of the same donors in their home state. He is up for re-election to the Senate in 2016.

Rubio said on Wednesday the foreign policy experience he gained in the Senate would set him apart from the current and former governors making a White House bid.

The senator was a fierce critic of President Barack Obama's move last month to normalize relations with Cuba.

(Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Susan Heavey)

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