It's Official: Marco Rubio's Friends Are Raising Money As If He Were Running For President

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida may not be an official presidential candidate until Monday, but he does have his own political action committee. It's called the Conservative Solutions PAC, and it's reportedly going to be run by Warren Tompkins, a GOP veteran worked in seven Republican presidential primaries including that of George W. Bush in 2000. Financial details of PACs won’t be public until a federal filing deadline in June, but it’s Rubio is reported to have at least ten million dollars pledged to his presidential bid. His campaign announcement is expected this Monday, April 13th, at the Freedom Tower in Miami.

For Rubio, early money isn’t about winning the Presidential election long-term, but setting himself apart from his Republican rivals. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) have already announced their campaigns. Cruz raised at least $31 million in a matter of weeks. But Rubio has been thinking ahead. For at least the past 12 months, he’s funded a research and polling organization, according to the National Journal. Called Conservative Solutions Project Inc., as the nonprofit is called, doesn’t have to report donations. Like a PAC, it’s not allowed to “coordinate” with the main campaign.

"Absolutely, the two groups are related," Sandosky told National Journal on Friday. "But they are separate and distinct entities. One is focused on supporting Marco Rubio's potential presidential campaign, and one is focused on issue education."

It appears that one of the issues Rubio wanted to get people most educated on most is how to win the Republican nomination. Most of the research performed by Conservative Solutions Project Inc. focused on Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada and Florida -- states expected to be key in the Republican primaries.

Yet there’s a race for support that runs parallel the Republican primary, as the Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times has observed. It’s the “Koch primary,” named after the Koch brothers, two wealthy political operatives whose 300-strong donor base is hoping to raise almost 900 million dollars. That’s more than Mitt Romney and the Republican National Committee raised in 2012 combined. It’s practically a 3rd political party, but without all of the pomp and pageantry. The Kochs they hold forums -- auditions for ultra-conservative presidential hopefuls. Marco made attended the most recent “tryouts” in January, joining his fellow Senators Cruz & Paul, as well as Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

“This race will be won by the candidate with the best vision for where to take this nation and the resources to ensure that message is heard,” Tompkins said in a statement to The Associated Press on Thursday. “Marco has the vision -- few have laid out in as much detail where they’d like to lead this country -- and we’re going to spend the next two years ensuring that the resources are there and used to effectively share that vision with voters.”