3) Marco Rubio (23 votes): When Marco Rubio, a young, exciting, conservative, charismatic, Hispanic Republican tossed his hat in the ring for a Senate seat in Florida, the grassroots instantly warmed to his candidacy. Howeve, when Charlie Crist got into the race, the establishment Republicans immediately rallied behind him. That didn’t sit too well with conservatives all across the country who immediately rallied to Rubio’s candidacy. In the end, Rubio’s star power was too much for Crist, who abandoned the GOP and ran as an independent. Happily, Rubio smashed both Crist and Kendrick Meek in the general election and a new conservative star was born.