On Wednesday, President-elect Donald Trump officially announced that he'd nominated Florida Senator Marco Rubio to serve as secretary of State in his upcoming administration. While many agree that is great news for our nation, it kind of leaves Florida in a bind. Rubio has represented the Sunshine State in the Senate since 2011, and is pretty popular there (in 2022, he easily won his re-election with over 1.2 million more votes than his Democrat opponent), but when he moves to Washington, D.C., next year, Governor Rick DeSantis must appoint someone to replace him until a special election is held in 2026.
Who will it be? Many names have been tossed around, including DeSantis's own chief of staff James Uthmeier, Florida's lieutenant governor Jeanette Nunez, Florida's attorney general Ashley Moody, former speaker of the Florida House of Represenatives José Oliva, and U.S. District judge Roy Altman. Some even support DeSantis appointing himself or his wife, Casey, to the seat, though that seems unlikely as DeSantis has said he enjoys his role as governor.
Perhaps the most noteworthy name on the list, however, is a member of the Trump family: the president-elect's daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. Lara is married to Trump's middle son, Eric, and has worked as a television producer in the past. She is currently the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, and many say she played a major role in helping get her father-in-law re-elected. The North Carolina native and mom of two has been an official resident of Florida for three years.
Lara appeared on Fox News with Sean Hannity on Wednesday night, and Hannity asked her about the rumors. While she didn't exactly confirm anything, she admitted she'd be happy to be Florida's next senator. "If I am able to serve, I would love to serve the people of Florida," she said, adding, "If I am asked, I would love to consider it, but I have yet to have a conversation with Governor DeSantis, so we will have to see."
Several prominent Republicans have spoken up in support of the idea of having another member of the Trump family in office. South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham also appeared on Hannity on Wednesday night and said he would be "over the top excited" and that "we could not do better on the Republican side than Lara Trump."
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of Florida also supported the idea and even suggested that Lara would hold the seat beyond 2006.
As of Wednesday, DeSantis has not made any public statement indicating who he might appoint to Rubio's seat when the time comes. The Tallahassee Democrat reports that the governor is currently in Italy discussing trade deals.
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