PHOENIX — Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio plans two speeches in Arizona, one to the business community and another to a social conservative group that is a powerful force in the right-leaning state.
The choices the Florida senator made in Wednesday's swing through Phoenix illustrate GOP candidates' need to appeal to both conservative and moderate Republicans if they hope to pull out a victory from a crowded primary field.
Rubio will address members of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry at midday. He then headlines a fundraiser for the Center for Arizona Policy.
That group championed a 2014 law religious freedom law that set off a national firestorm because it was seen as allowing discrimination against gays. Then-Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed the legislation.
Rubio's speeches are closed to the press.