Vietnamese American congressmember mulling a challenge to Florida's Senator Marco Rubio

Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Florida

Vietnamese American Congressmember Stephanie Murphy of Florida is considering running for the U.S. Senate  according to Axios, which broke the story. She would challenge incumbent Sen.Marco Rubio.

“Rep. Murphy has not made a decision on whether to run for the U.S. Senate,” said Lauren Calmet, a campaign spokesperson. However, it certainly looks like Murphy is  testing the waters for a potentially historic run. She's currently on a statewide "listening tour," telling her life story.

Donald Trump won Florida in 202o by 3 percentage points and the current governor and state legislators passed new restrictive voting laws that would make it harder to vote. The laws will certainly wind up in the courts and that might be selling point in favor of any Democrat running against the GOP-leaning state.

However, as a immigrant from Vietnam, Murphy is strongly anti-communist, a position that would endear her to the large Cuban community, and has expressed qualms about Biden's tax plans.

Murphy could be the second Vietnamese American campaigning for a high-profile political post. Last week, state Rep. Bee Nguyen, announced her candidacy for Georgia's Attorney General.

Murphy serves as co-chair of the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of Democrats focused on fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense, and a principled and pragmatic approach to legislating.

Before her election to Congress in 2016, Congresswoman Murphy was a businesswoman and college instructor. She earned a M.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the College of William and Mary.

Sources close to the Democrat say Murphy plans to announce her candidacy in June, reports Axios.

If Murphy were to win Florida's Senate seat, she would be the third Asian American in the Senate, joining Illinois' Tammy Duckworth and Hawaii's Mazie Hirono.

Murphy also sounds like someone interested in moving from the House to the Senate. She  previously called Rubio a “career politician.” She describes herself as a "capitalist" and has criticized Rubio for being out of touch with his constituents “in the real world.”

Rubio, a Cuban American, ran for President in 2012 and 2016. As a candidate in 2020, he was a vociferous critic of Donald Trump. However, after Trump beat Hillary Clinton, he became one of Trump's ardent defenders.

“[Rubio] has used the Senate as a stepping stone for his political ambitions as opposed to serving the people of Florida,” she told the Orlando Sentinel. “And I happen to believe that the people of Florida deserve a senator, at least one, who is more focused on what their issues are at their kitchen tables than on their next political position.”