Marco Rubio vs. Jeb Bush: Will both run for president in 2016?

For years, Sen. Marco Rubio has considered former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush his political mentor. But now chatter is growing over the possibility of the two Republicans from Florida running against each other in the same high-stake race for president in 2016.

Neither one has decided whether to run for president. They both say they will decide by the end of this year.

SEE ALSO: Is Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush the GOP Latino formula?

Fellow Floridians, like Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehitnen, who know Rubio and Bush well have said they don’t think Rubio would run for president if Bush does given the close mentor-mentee relationship they’ve developed over the years.

One Florida Republican told the Tampa Bay Times: “Marco will do everything in his power to be prepared should Jeb decide not to run, but he will not enter any campaign until Jeb makes his decision known — nor should he. Jeb would be the bridge Marco needs to major donors and the consensus Republicans that will determine the nominee, and he will do nothing to light any match near that bridge.”

Rubio says he’d run for president against Bush

But on Tuesday, Rubio hinted he would run for president even if Bush enters the race. He did so when asked directly whether he would run against Bush for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

“I think when someone contemplates running for president of the United States, you do so based on a criteria you’ve established for yourself. I don’t think those are decisions that you make with someone else’s decision in mind,” he said at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., according to The Hill.

Rubio added: “And I would bet you if he was here today he’d give you the exact same answer. I think that’s the way you approach a decision of that magnitude, is based on your own criteria, not on what someone else might or might not do.”

SEE ALSO: Marco Rubio: I am ready to be president

The fact that Rubio says he wouldn’t step aside if Bush decided to run for president is the opposite of what he did when he was considering whether to enter the 2010 Senate race to replace the retiring Mel Martinez. That time, Rubio visited Bush, who was also considering running for Martinez’s seat, to ask him if he was planning to enter the race. Rubio decided to run for Martinez’s seat when Bush said he wasn’t going to do so.

“If he were to run, no one would challenge him in the primary — certainly not me,” Rubio wrote in his memoir titled “An American Son.”

The close mentor-mentee relationship between Rubio and Bush dates back to 1998 when Rubio, who was 26 years old at the time, was elected to serve on the West Miami City Commission. Bush reportedly called Rubio the night of the election to congratulate him. From that moment on, the two Republicans became close allies.

Bush was there to celebrate Rubio’s political victories and to mentor him along the way. He was there when Rubio was named speaker of the Florida House and later when he was elected to Congress. As for Rubio, he looked to Bush for advice, and he even hired some of Bush’s staff members to work for him when he served as speaker of the Florida House.

“I have a special place in my heart for him,” Bush told Charlie Rose in June 2012. “It’s hard to describe the pride I feel for his incredible success.”

Who’s the strongest candidate: Rubio or Bush?

If both Rubio and Bush decide to run for president in 2016, the two of them would likely compete for the same pool of donors and supporters. But when it comes to who would be the strongest presidential candidate, political pundits point to Bush.

They say he comes from a political dynasty and has many connections because of it. He also appeals to both conservatives and moderates.

SEE ALSO: Can Jeb Bush draw more Hispanic votes nationally than Marco Rubio?

And at a time when Republicans are looking to improve their relationship with Latinos, Bush is also seen as a Republican who can appeal to Latino voters given his long record of reaching out to this growing voting bloc. His relationship with Latinos has been a close one for years that some even consider him to be an “honorary Hispanic.”

“He is accepted as part of the Cuban community,” Jose Fuentes, who lives in Florida and has known Bush for about three decades, previously told VOXXI. “He was like one of us kids. My father would tell me, ‘Oye, you have to be like Jeb.’”

Rubio, whose parents were born in Cuba, also has close ties with Latinos. A Latino Decisions poll released last summer shows that when Latino voters were asked which candidate they would support in the Republican primary for the 2016 presidential nomination, Rubio led the pack with 29 percent. Bush came in second with 13 percent.

Rubio’s role in crafting the Senate immigration reform bill, which includes a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, helped him gain support from Latino voters. However, it also hurt him among some conservatives and tea party members.

Bush’s views on immigration reform are similar to Rubio’s, except that Bush favors a path to legalization over citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Bush has long spoken about the need for immigration reform. Most recently, he said many people who come to the United States unlawfully do so as an “act of love” for their families.

Whether Rubio and Bush will run for president is still unclear. But if they both do, there’s no doubt they’ll make the 2016 presidential primaries that more interesting.

SEE ALSO: Could Jeb Bush’s view of immigration ruin a presidential bid?