TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida residents will likely know who their next U.S. senator will be in early January, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday.
Now that senior Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has been named as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state, it will be up to the governor to appoint his replacement should Rubio be confirmed by his Senate colleagues.
Under the U.S. Constitution and state law, the governor has the power to fill vacancies in the U.S. Senate, while voters decide who should fill vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives.
DeSantis is collecting names and conducting a “preliminary vetting” after receiving “strong interest” from several potential picks, he posted on social media Monday. In the coming weeks, the governor plans to conduct more extensive screening and candidate interviews.
“Florida deserves a senator who will help President Trump deliver on his electoral mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s budget decline, inspire is guided by conservative principles and has a proven track record. of the results,” DeSantis posted on X.
Some Republicans in the state are putting pressure on DeSantis to appoint Lara Trump, including Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who took to social media to voice his support for the president-elect’s daughter-in-law. Lara Trump is co-chair of the Republican National Committee and lives with her husband Eric Trump in Palm Beach County.
“If I were asked to serve in any other capacity, it would truly be my honor,” Lara Trump said in a Fox News appearance this weekend. “I haven’t been asked yet, but I would certainly consider it if it were presented to me.”
Some Republican politicians say appointing a member of the president-elect’s family to the Senate is a way for DeSantis to curry favor with his former rival for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination and score a victory in Trump’s devoted supporters as the governor ponders his own political future. . The choice could also give Florida another direct line to the Trump White House.
Other names put forward include Lt. Governor Jeanette Nuñez, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, and former Speaker of the Florida House Paul Renner.
Should Rubio be confirmed, his replacement would serve for two years until the next regularly scheduled election in 2026, at which time the seat would be up for re-election.
___ Kate Payne is a staff member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
