TALLAHASSEE: President-elect Donald Trump is bringing the Sunshine State back to the White House as he selects members of his private Palm Beach club for his incoming cabinet.
Trump’s reliance on Floridians is igniting a chain reaction that is creating new opportunities in the state in 2026 and beyond, with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, Trump’s former opponent for the party’s presidential nomination, playing a significant role. Sen. Marco Rubio has been appointed as the next secretary of state, Rep. Matt Gaetz has been nominated as attorney general, and Rep. Mike Waltz is in line to become national security adviser.
Washington was rocked by Gaetz’s nomination to head the Department of Justice, which had previously looked into him for alleged sex trafficking, and his confirmation as the nation’s top law enforcement official is not final. However, Gaetz resigned on Wednesday night, leaving a vacancy in his seat in the 1st Congressional District in northwest Florida. Although the accusations may reappear during Senate confirmation hearings, the ruling essentially put a stop to a House Ethics Committee inquiry into his alleged sexual misbehavior and illegal drug usage. Gaetz has flatly refuted all of them.
Neither Rubio nor Waltz, a three-term congressman who represents Florida’s 6th Congressional District south of Jacksonville, have resigned as of yet, but Florida Republicans are calculating what would happen if they did.
The procedures for filling vacancies in the U.S. House and Senate varies under federal and state law. Florida must conduct a special election where people may directly choose their next representative in order to fill an available House seat. If his colleagues approve him as secretary of state, DeSantis will have the opportunity to choose a successor for Rubio in the Senate. The seat would be occupied by Rubio’s successor until the next regularly scheduled election in 2026.
DeSantis is one of the candidates vying for Rubio’s seat.
Ron Meyer, an elections attorney in Tallahassee, said, “I don’t know of anything that stops him from naming himself, other than hubris, I suppose.”
When DeSantis’ term as governor ends in 2026, the state’s top executive position will once again be up for election, with new political opportunities. Politicians in Florida believe it could not be advantageous for DeSantis to appoint himself to the Senate since he is anticipated to think about running for president again in 2028. First lady Casey DeSantis, whose own political aspirations have long been a subject of conjecture, is another name being suggested.
The week before to the announcement of the Rubio selection, DeSantis was asked whether he would consider joining the incoming Trump administration, but he declined.
“I have nothing in mind,” DeSantis said. “I have a fantastic job in the state of Florida. How can I change things the most effectively? Given our current situation, I believe that my ability to quarterback Sunshine State is likely what will have the most impact.
Other potential candidates include state attorney general Ashley Moody and DeSantis’ lieutenant governor Jeanette Nuñez, who would be eligible to become the state’s first female governor if DeSantis nominated herself. Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law and his choice to co-chair the Republican National Committee, is one name that is being discussed in Trump’s circle. She and her husband, Eric, reside in Palm Beach County.
Aside from stating that they want to act swiftly, state authorities have not yet disclosed the dates of a special election to replace the House seats.
DeSantis said on social media Thursday, “I’ve directed Secretary of State Cord Byrd to create and announce a schedule for the forthcoming special elections immediately.”
According to Byrd’s social media posts, his staff is working on it and will shortly provide a timetable.
As Republicans attempt to capitalize on their slender but hard-won advantage next year, House Speaker Mike Johnson presented Gaetz’s retirement on Wednesday as a means of swiftly filling the vacancy.
Due to statutory requirements to publicize the elections, mail ballots to voters in the military and abroad, and certify primary results, as well as the logistical difficulties of holding another election immediately following a busy presidential cycle, Florida elections experts told The Associated Press that the process is still expected to take months. At least for the first half of 2025, it may further erode the Republicans’ already slim House majority.
According to Michael Morley, a professor at Florida State University’s College of Law and an authority on elections law, “there is a bit of flexibility for a few of these things, but it seems like there is no practical way of having a replacement House member in less than half a year.”
According to state statistics, it took 10 weeks between the primary election and the general election alone in the state’s most recent special election to fill a vacancy in the U.S. House.
