Homebuilder enters Senate race to replace Marco Rubio

SARASOTA — Another Cuban American Republican from Miami will soon enter the race to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio.

Manatee County developer Carlos Beruff, founder and owner of Medallion Homes, recently launched a campaign website, YouTube channel, Instagram and even fired out a timely tweet following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The video, uploaded this week, pegs a Feb. 29 launch date for the campaign.

“A lot of people of these people in Washington today do not have any idea how to run a business,” Beruff says from a table in downtown Sarasota's Toasted Mango in the video. “I have been running my own business for 32 years.”

Beruff founded Medallion in 1984 after a stint selling houses for U.S. Homes.

Beruff, who recently stepped down from the board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District and currently serves on the board of trustees for State College of Florida, joins U.S. Rep. David Jolly, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis and Florida Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera in the race.

“We believe in creating our own damn jobs,” Beruff says in the video. “Government doesn't create jobs, it creates dependency.”