Lt. Go
v. Carlos Lopez-Cantera got the green light from his wife.
C-Lo told a group of close to 750 Republicans at the Miami-Dade Lincoln Day Dinner that he was “considering” a run for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated by presidential hopeful Marco Rubio in 2016.
He won’t make an official announcement until July 15 — which is coincidentally right after the reporting deadline for this quarter.
But who is he kidding?
Everybody knows that the former state rep, who was the county property appraiser when Gov. Rick Scott tapped him as his No. 2, has his eyes set on the coveted open seat.
Read related story: Marco Rubio shines bright at Jeb-less Lincoln dinner
He already has a SuperPAC opened by supporters for the effort. He is widely
reported by friends to be making plans and reaching out to potential donors. Some of them say it did hinge on Renee’s nod — they have two little girls and the D.C. commute can apparently be brutal for a young family like theirs — but that she’s been on board from the get-go.
Lopez-Cantera basically confirmed that Saturday: “One of the strongest voices encouraging me to do this is my wife, Renee.”
He’s had a flurry of speaking engagements — The Hillsborough County GOP in Tampa Friday, the Leon County GOP in Tallahassee this week — and his father, who owns a property management company, is hosting a fundraiser at his Coral Gables home on Thursday for the Tampa-based SuperPAC, Reform Washington.
But the biggest telltale sign Saturday night: C-Lo was wearing a lavalier wireless mic on his lapel, connected to a 
transmitter on his belt. This indicates he was video taping the speech — parts of which Ladra expects we will see in the video released at his July announcement and commercials coming soon to a TV near you.
C-Lo was at the dinner to introduce Rubio and publicly throw his would-be predecessor what might be considered the senator’s first local establishment endorsement for the 2016 White House (and only his second overall, after Congressman Tom Rooney).
It wasn’t much of a surprise. The two have been longtime friends. Both Marco Rubio and Carlos Lopez-Cantera join
ed Rick Scott in Doral for a protest of the Venezuelan government last year. And the former state rep
was on stage with Rubio when he announced at the Freedom Tower in April.
“I am supporting Marco Rubio for president of the United States,” Lopez-Cantera said, celebrating the GOP for letting “voters decide who should be our nominee, unlike Democrats, who tell the voters who their nominee is going to be.”
The rest of his speech was a condemnation of the Democratic Party chock full of potential future soundbites:
“We need to end the Obama Clinton appeasement program.”
“The United States is the greatest country in the world, and we need to start acting like it again.”
“We believe in leadership that respects people, respects life, respects the law, and respects the Constitution of the United States of America.”
“We need someone to continue the work of Marco Rubio.”
He took jabs at both Alan Grayson and Patrick Murphy, the two Democratic congressmen who could face each other in a blue primary (Murphy is declared but Grayson is not yet).
Read related story: Coveted Marco Rubio Senate seat makes for mad primaries
But C-Lo made no mention of Congressman Ron DeSantis, the ultra right Tea Party favorite who might give him a run 
for his money in his own primary. Or for Norman Braman‘s money anyway. Expect the auto mogul to be the first name on Reform Washington’s first campaign finance report, due in July.
“f I get in this race, I know that it will be a long road. But if we get into it together, there is nothing that can stand in our way,” Lopez-Cantera said, addressing the die-hard Republican crowd.
“This is going to be one of the most watched, most expensive, most important races in the country, so we would need your help every step of the way.”
Sounds like a campaign speech already.
Carlos Lopez-Cantera: ‘I may run’ (read: He will run) added by Ladra on
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