Credit: JOE MAHONEY/TIMES-DISPATCH

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., considered to be among the potential Republican vice presidential picks, headlined House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's annual breakfast fundraiser in Richmond on Friday morning, an event that drew about 1,800 people in an election year.

Among those gathered around tables in the ballroom of the Greater Richmond Convention Center were former Gov. George Allen, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, former Rep. Tom Bliley, Rep. Robert Hurt of the 5th District, and scores of lawmakers and lobbyists.

Other local notables dotted the audience, including Virginia Commonwealth University President Michael Rao.

Cantor used the opportunity to talk up the JOBS Act slated to come up soon in the U.S. House, as well as a measure he will sponsor to give small businesses a 20 percent tax cut.

"This election is going to be a referendum on this administration's policies and this record that it has established on the economy," he said.

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act includes a series of bills that are supposed to make it easier for companies to go public and get access to capital. Cantor said he plans to follow up with a bill to provide a 20 percent tax cut for people who run small businesses.

"Straight up, it is money to the bottom line," he said.

A Cantor aide said the JOBS Act measures have drawn bipartisan support, and a White House spokesman recently said "there's real opportunity to work to get a lot of that done."

Rubio spoke of the American example across the globe.

"The question is whether the 21st century will be governed under the principles that America stands for or under the principles that these kinds of countries stand for," he said after talking about China.

"But that question will largely be answered by whether we still have the strength to be this example."

Rubio noted that Virginia will elect a new U.S. senator in November — an expected contest between Allen, a Republican who wants to reclaim the seat, and former Gov. Timothy M. Kaine, a Democrat.

He urged the room to send Allen back to Washington, saying that "it's critical for our nation."

It's also an election year for Cantor. Several Democrats are vying for their party's nomination to challenge him in November.