Rubio Runs as an Outsider as He Rakes In Lobbyists' Cash

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s strong showing in the Iowa caucus is expected to consolidate support for him from the establishment wing of the Republican Party, which had begun leaning his way in the last few months.

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Support is likely to escalate for Mr. Rubio from donors, elected officials and other prominent Republicans who see the Florida senator as their best hope to defeat Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. These Republicans view Mr. Cruz as an uncompromising ideologue willing to shut down the government to get his way, while they question Mr. Trump’s conservative principles. Both are criticized as too extreme to build winning national coalitions that would expand the GOP’s reach to women, minorities and young people.

For weeks, Mr. Rubio has complained about tens of millions of dollars in attacks by the “Republican establishment” and vowed to battle “Washington special interests” in his presidential campaign. While he has been the target of a blitz of attack ads, mostly from the super PAC backing a rival, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, new fundraising reports show special interests and members of the GOP establishment were already lining up behind Mr. Rubio.

Mr. Rubio received about $676,129 in bundled contributions from federal lobbyists in the last three months of 2015—nearly as much as the $716,981 received by Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton and much more than the $195,795 received by Mr. Bush during the same period, according to reports filed Sunday with the Federal Election Commission.

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