Rubio pushed for land deal as he backed law limiting critics

Two months earlier, Rubio — a rising Republican star in the state Legislature — backed a law that made it harder for people to challenge the kinds of developments he advocated for as a private attorney.

Around the same period, Rubio also requested state money to be earmarked to benefit a flood-prone area around the development project.

[...] his seat in Tallahassee, the state capital, put him in the position of advocating before a county commission that relied on lawmakers like him to fight for state money.

The commission approved the application for the plan near the Everglades, though Sorenson voted against it because it would have required moving the so-called urban development boundary, an important safeguard that protected agriculture and the local water supply.

Todd Harris, a senior adviser for Rubio's presidential campaign, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Rubio never lobbied in the traditional sense because that was illegal under state law.

"Marco did not gain personally from this, or any other, vote because his compensation was not tied to any other specific project," Harris wrote in response to detailed questions from the AP, noting the law firm Rubio worked for was paid a standard retainer for its work.

Rubio's campaign told the AP the younger Lopez-Cantera worked for his father's company and recommended hiring Rubio to do the legal work "because of his experience in land use and zoning."

A Sierra Club representative argued to commissioners that the business park would cost taxpayers money and threaten the water supply of more than 1 million people.

After the boundary changes and Pan American's sale of a portion of the property for $23 million in 2008, the land has since transformed into an industrial park with a Goya Foods Inc. operation and commercial warehouses.