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Sen. Deb Fischer on Monday endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio's bid for the Republican presidential nomination and said she will campaign for him in coming weeks.

Fischer's endorsement came on the eve of New Hampshire's presidential primary election and on the heels of a GOP presidential debate during which Rubio was targeted by several of his opponents and emerged with critical media reviews.

Fischer said her support for Rubio, a first-term Florida senator, centered on his strength in national security and defense issues along with the positive nature of his campaign.

"Running a positive campaign is very important to me," Nebraska's first-term senator said.

"Nebraskans understand the threats we are facing in the world," Fischer said during a telephone interview prior to her endorsement announcement on Fox News.

"No one has a deeper knowledge of the global challenges than Marco," she said.

Fischer, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said "we're going to be electing a commander-in-chief and our focus needs to be on national security."

Rubio is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.