Rubio to lead House: lawyer-legislator takes center stage in 2006.

As soon as Marco Rubio graduated from the University of Miami School of Law in 1996, he immersed himself in Republican politics, going to work as a floor manager at the GOP convention in San Diego, California.

Ever since, the Republican Party has been working well for him.

Today, you'll find 33-year-old Rubio, of Miami, in his suite of offices as House Majority Leader.

Come September, he will officially be named Speaker of the House designate, becoming the first Cuban-American in that powerful position in 2006.

During the hustle and bustle of the Capitol during the legislative session, Rubio recently took time for a chat with the News to share a little about his political philosophies with his fellow lawyer colleagues.

You won the Republican nomination for a state House seat by just 64 votes, and since your election in January 2000 you have rocketed through the ranks of your party. You are only 33 years old. Al Cardenas, a former Republican Party of Florida chair, is quoted as saying, "I don't remember such an incredible rise through power as Marco has accomplished." To what do you attribute your great success at such a young age and in such a short amount of time?

I was able to get elected in a special election in '99-2000, which allowed me to come in right before term limits, so that gave me an extra year over my class. Clearly, that was beneficial. Coming in with term limits, at a moment in time when all these people who had served in government for so long had to leave at one time, created a vacuum. And having that extra year here obviously helped me distill it quickly ...

It would have been impossible without the support of law firms where I have worked at since I have been in the legislature ... They have all been extraordinarily supportive, starting with Ruden McClosky, Becket & Poliakof, and now Broad & Cassel. So I've had supportive employers, supportive family, and great opportunities.

If you maintain support and do become the next Speaker of the House, which is pretty much a sure thing as I understand it, you will become one of the country's most prominent Hispanic leaders at a time the Republican Party wants to bring diversity to its ranks on a national scale. How significant is being the first Cuban-American speaker to you personally, as the son of Cuban exiles, and what future political aspirations do you have?

My job is to do a good job. And if I do a good job, that will benefit the Hispanic community. It will bode well for the people who I represent. It will bode well for the generation whose dreams I inherited because they were not able to fulfill them during their time.... As far as future political aspirations, I mean it's not a very sexy answer, but it's the same one. You do a good job, you always have options for public service. I don't know what I will be doing three-and-a-half years from now. Maybe I want to practice law and become one of the leading lawyers in Florida, not just one of the leading politicians. Maybe I want to pursue other political opportunities. The key is to have options, and the only way you are going to have options, again, is if you do a good job.

What issues that you have championed are you most proud of?

I was very involved in the redistricting effort. Redistricting gets a lot of criticism in the state of Florida. There's a group out there now who wants to put it to an independent commission. People may not like the results of redistricting--which party is in control or what have you, although I remind everyone that the maps that Republicans took over were drawn by the...