A DeSantis departure for Trump's Cabinet would scramble top of Florida government

TALLAHASSEE, Florida - Gov. Ron DeSantis leaving Florida to become President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Department of Defense would scramble the top of the Sunshine State's government at a particularly pivotal time.

Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nu?ez would take over as the state’s chief executive, presumably to serve the remaining two years of DeSantis’ second term. She’d become both Florida’s first woman governor and the first Cuban-American to lead a state that's home to generations of immigrants from the island nation.

She’d also have some big decisions to make. Fast.

While Nu?ez would need to choose a new lieutenant governor to fill her absent spot, in coming weeks she also would name a U.S. senator and fill the state Cabinet post of chief financial officer.

There’s also the 2025 legislative session, which begins in March.

DeSantis has emerged as a possible Trump replacement for Pete Hegseth, his embattled defense secretary choice, who is under scrutiny for his treatment of women and allegations of drinking and mismanagement of funds at veterans’ charities.

DeSantis exit would fuel turmoil at top

A DeSantis exit would fuel the turmoil triggered when Trump last month announced his intention to nominate Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio for secretary of State, leaving the Senate seat he’s held since 2010.

Two weeks later, CFO Jimmy Patronis submitted a March resignation as part of his candidacy for the Panhandle congressional seat vacated by Republican Matt Gaetz, who withdrew as Trump’s attorney general nominee amid sexual misconduct and drug allegations.

DeSantis had said he planned to at least fill Rubio’s seat in January.

But that now may become one of the first major choices confronting Nu?ez, 52, who served eight years in the state House representing parts of Miami before teaming up with DeSantis as his lieutenant governor pick during the 2018 governor’s race. The pair were re-elected in 2022.

Auditions for '26 governor's race would begin

A DeSantis departure to Washington also would likely accelerate focus on Florida’s 2026 governor’s race.

Nu?ez would be seen as an incumbent, if she chose to run, but there are plenty of other potential contenders, including a bevy of Republicans: Florida state Attorney General Ashley Moody, Florida state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples, and even possibly Gaetz if he sought a bounce back.

Democratic contenders may include state Senate Democratic Leader Jason Pizzo of North Miami, state e Sen. Shevrin Jones of Miami Gardens and U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Coral Springs.

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With Trump making a crackdown on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his campaign for the White House, Nu?ez’s potential step up to lead the nation’s third most-populous state could draw renewed attention on her own record.

Nunez, whose father was a Cuban exile, sponsored state House legislation in 2014 that allowed undocumented immigrants living in Florida to obtain in-state tuition rates for colleges and universities.

She also fought a repeal effort in 2017 only to join with DeSantis in calling for erasing the benefit as part of a 2023 immigration package pushed by the governor.

Like many Florida politicians, an evolving history on immigration

The tuition benefit, though, endures in Florida, eventually having been excluded from the new immigration law which imposed restrictions on undocumented residents and potential penalties on employers hiring them.

If the 'DeSantis to the Defense Department' story continues to play out, Nu?ez would become the first Florida lieutenant governor to rise to the top job since Democratic Lt. Gov. Buddy Mackay served 23 days as governor upon the death of Gov. Lawton Chiles in December 1998.

Before Mackay, Lt. Gov. Wayne Mixson was governor for three days in January 1987 when Democratic Gov. Bob Graham exited early to be sworn in as a U.S. senator.

Like all Florida lieutenant governors, Nu?ez has mostly played an understudy role in support of DeSantis administration policies.

She’s often featured at roundtable events. And as a Latina woman and mother of three, Nu?ez may have served to publicly soften the edges of DeSantis’ opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion at universities and work, while also promoting the expansion of private school vouchers.

Nu?ez cited her Catholic faith while joining DeSantis in campaigning against the abortion rights constitutional Amendment 4, which narrowly failed to draw the needed 60% support from Florida voters in November.

“We cannot go to church and pray like Christians and turn around and vote like atheists,” Nu?ez said at an October rally.

John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at [email protected], or on X at @JKennedyReport.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: If DeSantis goes to Defense, Nu?ez at the top in Florida makes history