JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When it comes to Donald Trump’s running mate, one Florida senator won’t go away.
Perhaps due to the goodwill of fellow Sunshine State native and senior Trump campaign adviser Suzie Wiles, Marco Rubio remains a contender as Trump’s vice presidential pick looms.
The announcement could be just hours away, given that the former president is scheduled to hold a rally in Doral, Florida on Tuesday.
Marco Rubio’s shares are trading at 14 cents on the political prediction market aggregator site. Polymarket As of this writing, he is behind Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, but ahead of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is surging late among investors who believe he will enter the race in his state.
Rubio will, of course, be at the event, and assuming he’s Trump’s pick, it will leave another Florida man with a big decision to make.
In that case, Gov. Ron DeSantis would be responsible under the 17th Amendment to the Constitution to replace Rubio in the Senate until a special election can be held.
For DeSantis, if the former president gives him that opportunity, only good can come from it.
One of the downsides of Florida politics is that the governor doesn’t have much dialogue with Florida’s senators.
And for good reason: DeSantis wasn’t happy with the way then-Governor Rick Scott was dismissed from office.
Scott delayed his 2019 Senate inauguration to make the most of his final term, throwing a party at the governor’s mansion just hours before DeSantis’ inauguration, after the new Florida president’s family had moved in. To make matters worse, Scott later cut DeSantis’ inauguration early, presumably to avoid the crowds.
Scott has voiced his own frustrations, pointing out multiple times to this day that DeSantis never reached out to him during a state-level crisis.
Rubio’s case isn’t so bad, but Sen. A few months have passed Between conversations with DeSantis, and there’s no reason to think he still doesn’t talk much.
That means if Rubio is Trump’s pick, DeSantis has a chance to appoint someone he can trust and work with to the position.
Possibilities abound — including inside the Governor’s Mansion.
Casey DeSantis is telegenic, ambitious, policy-engaged and in some ways seems like the perfect choice for her husband.
A former TV news anchor, Florida’s first lady will be able to bring that experience to a national platform, and she clearly knows what the governor wants: As anyone who watched his presidential campaign knows, their presentations had a “two for the price of one” vibe that was very similar to those of Bill and Hillary Clinton decades ago.
The issue in this election is personal, not political: Mrs. DeSantis has three school-age children and is a very active, involved mother, so it is unlikely she would want to move to Washington.
Other potential candidates include Attorney General Ashley Moody and Lt. Gov. Janet Nunez, both of whom have demonstrated staunch loyalty to DeSantis and his policies and are believed to be eyeing gubernatorial reelection in 2026.
Choosing Moody or Nunez would narrow the race for the governor’s succession, with polls showing Republicans prefer Casey to other candidates. National Review She is already excited to follow in her husband’s footsteps.
Others less loyal to DeSantis, such as Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson and the Democratic congressional delegation (most of which supported Trump when DeSantis was still on the campaign trail), will likely be left out.
That’s not surprising, since a governor’s biggest benefit is having a senator he can work with.
That leaves wild-card candidates like former Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva, who helped DeSantis’ presidential campaign reach out to Hispanics.
Another name to watch is James Usmeyer, the governor’s chief of staff who returned to the governor’s office after running DeSantis’ presidential campaign.
Usmeyer has long harbored political ambitions, and such an insider selection would be similar to former Gov. Charlie Crist’s selection of George Lemieux, Crist’s former chief of staff and a supporter of Crist’s campaigns throughout his gubernatorial career.
DeSantis has been an unconventional and transformative governor in many ways, but given the opportunity to exert influence in the Senate, he is more likely to choose continuity and predictability over wild-card mavericks.
