Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio

Jeanette Christina Dousdebes Rubio (born December 5, 1973) is the wife of United States Senator and 2016 presidential candidate Marco Rubio.[1]

Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio
Jeanette Dousdebes in 2011.
Born
Jeanette Christina Dousdebes

(1973-12-05) December 5, 1973
Florida, U.S.
EducationSouth Miami High School
Alma materMiami Dade College
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1998)​
Children4

Early life

Jeanette was born in Florida, to parents who had emigrated from Colombia.[2] When she was six, her parents divorced.[3] Jeanette was raised Roman Catholic and attended South Miami High School. She met her future husband, Marco Rubio, at a neighborhood party when she was 17 and he was 19.[4][5][6][7] After graduating from high school, she attended Miami Dade College.[3]

Before her marriage, she worked as a bank teller.[4] In 1997, she became a member of the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders.[4][3] Her sister, Adriana Dousdebes, was also a cheerleader for the Dolphins.[3] Jeanette was featured in the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders' first swimsuit calendar.[8] It was during her time as a cheerleader that Jeanette Dousdebes and Marco Rubio, who were only slightly acquainted in high school, met again and began to date.[9]

When the Rubios were first married, she enrolled in a course of study in fashion design at International Fine Arts College, but did not complete her studies, devoting herself, instead, to being a full-time mother of four children.[2][3] Rubio has told the press that mothering four small children while married to a politician is very much "like being a single mom."[10]

During her husband's service in the Florida legislature, Rubio lived with the children near Miami, traveling to Tallahassee to be with her husband as often as she could.[11][7]

Political involvement

During the race for speaker, she was enlisted by her husband to manage the political action committees he used to support his travel and consultants, a decision he later described as a "disaster" as it resulted in confusion on financial transactions related to travel and expenses, due to "inexperience, sloppiness and a blur of paperwork" according to a report by the Tampa Bay Times.[2]

Unlike many spouses of presidential candidates, Rubio did not make campaign speeches.[12][13]

Rubio's campaign spotlighted her career as a Dolphins cheerleader in a television ad broadcast shortly before the Iowa caucuses, the New Hampshire primary, and the NFL playoffs.[14]

The Washington Post reported that Rubio is a part-time employee of the Norman Braman Family 2011 Charitable Foundation, which is also a financial backer of her husband Marco Rubio, and likely to commit as much as US$10 million to pro-Rubio PACs.[15]

Charitable work

Rubio volunteers for an organization called Kristi's House, which serves youth in the Miami area who have been abused or involved in human trafficking.[16]

Personal life
Florida House Speaker Rubio, Miami, officially sworn into office by Judge R. Fred Lewis, with Jeanette and the three oldest children at his side, in 2006

The Rubios live in West Miami, Florida, close to Jeanette's three sisters.[16]

The Rubios had a Catholic wedding in 1998 at the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida and have four children: Daniella, Amanda, Dominick, and Anthony.[6][3][17]

Rubio and her family regularly attend both Roman Catholic Mass at Church of the Little Flower and Protestant worship services at Christ Fellowship,[18] an Evangelical megachurch aligned with the Southern Baptist Convention.[19] She hosts a weekly Bible study class in her home.[3] Her three younger children attend a private Protestant Christian school while the eldest attends a Catholic high school.[2][20]

References
  1. "Marco Rubio Fast Facts". CNN. August 20, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  2. Leary, Alex (May 15, 2015). "Marco Rubio's wife long an unseen presence in his career". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  3. Felsenthal, Carol (November 20, 2015). "A look at Jeanette Rubio, Marco's little-known better half". The Hill. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  4. Silva, Christina (July 31, 2010). "The women behind the men who would be Florida's senator". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
  5. Saenz, Arlette (May 18, 2012). "Jeannette Dousdebes Rubio". ABC News. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  6. Rettig, Jessica (May 4, 2010). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Marco Rubio". U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
  7. "The women behind the men who would be Florida's senator". Tampa Bay Times. July 31, 2010. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  8. Cleary, Tom (April 13, 2015). "Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, Marco's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
  9. Leary, Alex (May 16, 2015). "Quiet but Crucial: The shy Jeanette Rubio has been a major factor in her husband's rise". Tampa Bay Times.
  10. Oleksinski, Johnny (October 29, 2015). "Meet Marco Rubio's hot wife". New York Post. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  11. Clark, Lesley (March 9, 2013). "Marco Rubio makes mark as a GOP wonder boy". Miami Herald. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  12. Barbaro, Michael (December 14, 2015). "Marco Rubio's Wife: A Partner Ready to Puncture His Ego". New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  13. "Meet the Republican would-be First Ladies". The Daily Telegraph (London). August 6, 2015.
  14. Corasaniti, Nick (January 9, 2016). "Marco Rubio Shows N.F.L. Fans He's One of Them, and Smiles". New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
  15. Rick Cohen (April 15, 2015). "Keeping Up With the Contestants for 2016: Marco Rubio's Billionaire Foundation Backer". Nonprofit Quarterly.
  16. Espinoza, Galina (September 7, 2013). "Marco Rubio and His Wife on Their Family Life and What Makes Their Relationship Work". Parade magazine. Athlon Media Group. Retrieved February 18, 2016.
  17. Allen, Abel (November 29, 2015). "Is Marco Rubio the real deal?". Maclean's. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  18. Oppenheimer, Mark (November 26, 2010). "Marco Rubio: Catholic or Protestant?". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  19. "Our Beliefs". Christ Fellowship. 2016. Archived from the original on September 3, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  20. O'Keefe, Ed (April 10, 2014). "In South Florida, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are forcing locals to pick sides". The Miami Herald. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
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