WEST MIAMI, Fla. – With news that President-elect Donald Trump is set to select US Senator Marco Rubio as the next US Secretary of State, the South Florida Republican is poised to become fourth in line for the presidency – after he started his career on stage in the small suburb of West Miami.

Rubio was elected West Miami city commissioner in 1998 before running for the Florida House of Representatives two years later, a position that would eventually take him to the top of the chamber as Speaker, putting him in a position to run for office. be in the US Senate. in 2010.

Workers in the town of about 7,000 people said they always knew Rubio, 53, was destined for bigger things.

“I thought he was going to be president,” Ralph Montes De Oca, West Miami’s water and sewer supervisor, told Local 10 News. “I was hoping.”

Gaby Lopez, the city mayor’s chief of staff, said “his legacy lives on throughout the city.”

Rubio, a young, telegenic Cuban conservative, would be hailed by Time Magazine as the “Republican Savior” and become a leading tough voice against American adversaries, socialist dictators in Latin America and, more recently, the rising Communist China.

Despite the “too early” advice, Rubio became a presidential hopeful. That was 2016, the year Donald Trump brought his brand to the attention of voters and humiliated his rivals.

Rubio hired him. He tried Trump’s tactics, referring to his “small hands,” then reversed course, apologizing for his comments.

The Rubio rebound in Trumpworld has come full circle. He is a trusted assistant on Latin America and an ardent supporter at rallies.

He was shortlisted for vice president and now tops the list to become the country’s best ambassador.