TAMPA Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio has been the dominant figure in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate and the presumptive nominee since Gov. Charlie Crist dropped out of the GOP in April.
But Republicans who go to the polls for the primary election will see two other Republicans listed on their ballots competing with Rubio for the nomination: William Escoffery III and William Billy Kogut.
Rubio, 39, a Miami lawyer, served in the state House from 2000-08, including two years as Speaker, a position in which he had the power to control most House legislation.
In the face of Rubio's increasingly successful challenge, Crist left the party to run as a no-party candidate.
Rubio has since become a major national political figure, a leading symbol of the conservative movement within the Republican Party. He is spoken of as a potential presidential contender.
Rubio has been indirectly linked to the state Republican Party financial scandals in that he chose former state Rep. Ray Sansom as his budget chief while serving as Speaker and oversaw the House during the time Sansom was allegedly committing acts in which he was later indicted.
Among Rubio's prominent issue stands:
Escoffery, 66, of Shalimar, is a Jamaican-born physician who practiced in Canada and the United States, and moved to Florida in 1977, according to his website. He calls himself a "Christian conservative candidate" whose goal is, "Put God back in America, restore American values and throw the bums out."
His website includes a treatise on the 1803 Marbury v. Madison Supreme Court case - which asserted the court's power to review and rule on acts of Congress - as the source of the nation's main problem: a federal government that has "improperly usurped individual and state freedoms."
He has spent about $20,250, much of it from a loan from himself, on his campaign.
Kogut's website identifies him as an Ormond Beach real estate salesman who came to Florida in 1995 from New Jersey.
It says he is "a born-again believer in Jesus Crist" who opposes homosexual marriage, wants to cut the size of congressional staffs and increase border security. Kogut has not reported any campaign fundraising or spending.
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