Editor's Note

The following appears in the January print issue of City & State Magazine. 

After his commanding win over Val Demings a few months ago, Marco Rubio is again the Republican Party’s standard bearer in South Florida. (Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez is close behind.) He’s firmly ensconced in the U.S. Senate for another six-year term, but the question now is: What does Rubio want? That’s what staff writer Tristan Wood digs into for this month’s cover story. 

Will he flirt with a White House run? Wait for a cabinet appointment (“Secretary of State Rubio,” anyone?) from the next Republican president? 

For now, a look at his official Senate topics page shows he’s been focused on his usual interests. “Rubio Briefed On Illegal Migrant Crisis In Florida Keys.” No surprise there. “Rubio Sounds Alarm on JPMorgan Partnership with Chinese TikTok Parent Bytedance.” Absolutely in line with his efforts of late. “Rubio Praises Progress on UAP Reporting, Seeks More Transparency.” That one puzzled us till we read beyond the headline. UAP means “unidentified anomalous phenomena.” 

For a moment, our 1990s groove for The X-Files revved up. But before you get too excited that Rubio is into UFOs, the term means “anything in space, in the air, on land, in the sea or under the sea that can't be identified, and which might pose a threat to U.S. military installations or operations,” according to the Department of Defense. Which, as anyone who’s seen “Independence Day” knows, could still mean flying saucers. But probably not. 

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As you know by now, Gannett’s loss is City & State’s gain. Veteran state government reporter and columnist Bill Cotterell announced he was ending his “Capital Curmudgeon” column for Florida’s USA TODAY Network. In his final column in the Tallahassee Democrat, Bill explained that he “finally got caught in the wave of staff cuts recently announced.” He’s now agreed to write a column for City & State Florida, which appears every Tuesday. 

His inaugural column, also in this month’s magazine, is a rumination on Gov. Ron DeSantis' inauguration day and calls him “the most significant governor of Florida since Gov. LeRoy Collins had greatness thrust upon him nearly 70 years ago.” We hope you’re as happy as us to continue reading the musings of a man who spent nearly four decades covering thousands of Florida lawmakers and nine governors. Another great issue awaits you.