Marco Rubio’s Mormon past

Marco Rubio, the Republican senator from Florida, apparently has Mormon roots, according to an exclusive report by Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed reported that, “Rubio was baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with his family at around the age of eight, and remained active in the faith for a number of years during his early youth,” according to family members.

Rubio’s spokesman confirmed the story to Buzzfeed and explained that Rubio converted to Catholicism a few years later and received his first communion when he was 13, in 1984.

Rubio shot to prominence in 2010, when he won the Republican nomination for the Florida senate seat against incumbent, Gov. Charlie Crist. He has been gaining attention at a national level again as a potential candidate for vice president on the Republican ticket, which would be interesting if Mitt Romney, also Mormon, ended up as the official candidate for the GOP. At the Conservative Political Action Committee held in Washington, DC earlier this month, Rubio won the straw poll for vice presidential candidate.

Analysts are questioning whether this chapter in Rubio’s past would hamper his chances at a vice presidential position as ABC News noted that the vice presidential nominee is "often used for balancing a variety of attributes," of the presidential nominee.

Bertica Cabrera Morris, a Senior Advisor to the Romney campaign who previously ran Rubio’s campaign in Florida, told NBC Latino, “It should not affect it at all, that is totally unfair.”

She added, “Marco is a devout Catholic. The first thing he did when he was confirmed as a Senator was have a Mass. His whole life is about faith.”

USA Today noted that Rubio was going to reveal the religious details of his past in his memoir “An American Son,” coming out in October, before Buzzfeed beat him to the punch.

More on GlobalPost: CPAC sees Republicans attack Obama on contraceptive issue

Rubio has been a vocal opponent of the Obama administration's efforts to provide contraception coverage to all employees, even those who work for religious organizations. Here is a video of him defending his viewpoint, two weeks ago.