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Marco Rubio has less than 10 days to decide if he wants to run for re-election to the Senate. And now the Florida senator has received the blessing of the longtime friend who has spent a year seeking to replace him.

Marco Rubio. Photograph: Paul Sancya/AP

Carlos Lopez-Cantera, the lieutenant governor of Florida, has been close to Rubio for two decades. He had all but secured Rubio’s coveted endorsement while running for his Senate seat in a crowded Republican primary.

But in the wake of the Orlando terrorist attack, Lopez-Cantera told Rubio he should after all reconsider a bid for a second term. Politico reported earlier today that while Lopez-Cantera plans to remain in the race for now, but felt “compelled” to discuss the election with Rubio after the two visited the site of the deadly massacre at Pulse nightclub on Sunday.

After Lopez-Cantera’s endorsement, Rubio confirmed that he is reconsidering running for re-election.

“I’ll go home later this week and I’ll have time with my family. If there’s a change in status, I’ll be sure let everyone know,” Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill.

Rubio has long vowed not to seek re-election - but after his failed presidential run, top Republicans also orchestrated a ‘Draft Rubio’ campaign of their own. The Florida senator, according to most polling, would be the strongest Republican candidate to face Patrick Murphy, the congressman who is Democrats’ most likely contender.

Rubio for weeks insisted his thinking had not changed, but also found himself pondering his future after Orlando.

The attack “really gives you pause to think a little bit about your service to your country and where you can be most useful to your country,” he told conservative radio show Hugh Hewitt.

The deadline to file for the Florida Senate race is24 June. Whatever Rubio decides, Democrats are signaling they are ready - warning through press reports that will spend as much as $20 million to defeat him and, as they see it, also derail any ambitions Rubio holds to seek the presidency once more.