Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who burst on to the national scene when he defeated former Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010, has been mentioned as a possible GOP vice presidential candidate – at least in part because of the party’s desire to attract more Latino voters Latino voters. But despite his Cuban ancestry, Rubio is not well known nationally among Latinos.

When asked about their opinion of Rubio, more than half (54%) of Latino registered voters say they have never heard of him (40%), don’t know (10%) or can’t rate him (4%).

Among Latino registered voters who have heard of Rubio, 27% say they have a favorable opinion of him while 18% say they have an unfavorable opinion.

While Rubio unsurprisingly is viewed more favorably among Latino Republicans than he is among Democrats, a significant minority (40%) of Hispanic Republicans either have never heard of him, don’t know or can’t rate him. Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.