Key players in 2016 US presidential race

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) speaks at Marshalltown Community College in Marshalltown, Iowa January 26, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

A Cuban-American native of Miami, Florida, Rubio won his Senate election in 2010 and since then has established himself as a leading voice for the new generation of the Republican Party.

After the constant dominance of political outsider Trump and recent rise of Cruz, Rubio is now regarded a viable candidate for party elites and leadership.

However, Rubio's past record on a sweeping immigration bill that granted legal status threatens to drive away conservatives in the party.