U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio told News Center 7 that he is “absolutely not” an option as a GOP vice presidential candidate.

The congressman from Florida, who was at Wright State University on Monday night at a rally to support the Senate candidacy of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, told reporter Yuna Lee that he has some things to finish in the Senate and would help whoever is nominated as the GOP candidate for president in 2012.

Rubio said he would decline the request to join the GOP ticket even if candidate Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor who is in a tight race for the nomination with former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, asked him to be on the ticket, he told Lee.

The Senate needs new people, Rubio said, and Ohio, like his home state of Florida, is a key swing state.

The Washington Post reported Monday that Rubio’s endorsement of Mandel is the first for his new Reclaim American political action committee. Mandel won the primary Tuesday to face Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.

Rubio’s Ohio visit to campaign with Mandel on Monday and Tuesday is his first PAC-sponsored trip for another candidate, according to the Post, which also indicated that Rubio is thought by many to be a potential presidential/vice presidential candidate.

Rubio, elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, holds several committee assignments including Commerce, Science and Transportation; Foreign Relations; Intelligence; and Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He and his wife, Jeanette, have four young children and live in West Miami.