MIAMI – If President-elect Donald Trump selects Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Gov. Ron DeSantis would achieve the ability to nominate Rubio’s short-term Senate substitute.
Rubio, who was re-elected to his six-year time period in 2022, would vacate a seat that does not finish till 2028.
The appointed substitute would serve till a 2026 particular election to finish the ultimate two years of Rubio’s time period — that means the appointee must win once more in 2028 to safe a full time period.
CBS Information Miami’s Jim DeFede, citing conversations with a number of Republican sources, studies that a number of eventualities are being mentioned for a way DeSantis might proceed:
Appointing chief of employees James Uthmeier
Uthmeier, who serves as DeSantis’s chief of employees and was marketing campaign supervisor for his presidential marketing campaign, might act as a caretaker within the Senate position till 2026. This transfer would give DeSantis the choice to run for the Senate seat himself within the 2026 particular election, aligning with the tip of his gubernatorial time period.
Appointing Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez
Nunez, a Cuban-American from Miami, has been a loyal ally to DeSantis. Her appointment might present continuity for Cuban-American illustration, changing Rubio, who shares the identical background.
DeSantis takes the Senate seat
DeSantis might work with Nunez to resign as governor, permitting her to ascend to the governorship and appoint him on to the Senate seat, bypassing the necessity to wait till 2026.
Different potential contenders for DeSantis’s appointment embrace Lawyer Common Ashley Moody and former Florida Home Speaker Jose Oliva, who can also be a Cuban-American from Miami.
There’s additionally hypothesis that DeSantis might appoint his spouse, Casey DeSantis to the seat. Casey DeSantis has lengthy been concerned in state authorities and she or he enjoys broad recognition throughout the state.
With a number of Republican leaders within the combine, DeSantis’s determination might reshape Florida’s political panorama, particularly if he eyes the Senate seat himself as a part of a longer-term technique.
