By Jim Turner ©2024 The News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis likely will select a successor to U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio by the start of 2025 as Rubio prepares to serve as secretary of state in the Trump administration, DeSantis said in an online post on Monday.
Back from a business development mission last week to Italy, DeSantis posted on X that he’s started vetting potential candidates to replace Rubio, who was formally tapped Wednesday by President-elect Donald Trump for the Cabinet post.
Without providing names, DeSantis said he’s “already received strong interest from several possible candidates.” He said Rubio is expected to resign from the Senate to assume the duties of secretary of state when Trump takes office Jan. 20.
“More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January,” DeSantis said in the post. “Florida deserves a senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results.”
Several names have been floated as potential candidates, including Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva, U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee and James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ chief of staff.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, made television appearances during the past week where she expressed her desire for the Senate post.
“I would love to be able to go forward and do more,” Lara Trump told FOX Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo.
“I don’t think you’ll find a person who is more in line with Donald Trump’s America First values and policies than me,” she said. “I’ve been part of this for nine years, Maria, as has everyone obviously in our family.”
On FOX News Channel with Sean Hannity, Lara Trump said she’d, “love to serve the people of Florida.”
“This is my home state now and has been for three years,” she said. “This is where Eric (Trump) and I live, and to truly have that opportunity would be incredible.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., and U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., have publicly expressed support for Lara Trump.
Rubio’s term is scheduled to expire in 2028, but DeSantis’ appointee would serve until an election is held in 2026.
In confirming that Rubio was his choice for secretary of state, Donald Trump on Wednesday said in an online post that “Marco is a highly respected leader, and a very powerful voice for freedom.”
Rubio, who went from challenging Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 to being considered a potential running mate this year, served as Florida House speaker during the 2007 and 2008 legislative sessions before first getting elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010. He was re-elected in 2016 and 2022.
