The political universe is again watching Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ every move as he is expected to name a replacement for Senator Marco Rubio, who is expected to be confirmed as the next Secretary of State, in the coming days, and weeks.
Gov. DeSantis himself said that he would make the call of who he would choose to fill Sen. Rubio’s big shoes in the U.S. Senate.
While Sen. Rubio’s replacement watch isn’t as big as Gov. DeSantis's highly-anticipated run for President of the United States in 2023, the decision holds a lot of weight because anyone he chooses from his projected list of candidates could cause a legislative vacuum in Florida.
How so?
Let’s first talk about who is on his short list of potential picks.
Here is the list of potential candidates we are hearing have made the shortlist:
Attorney General Ashley Moody
Lt. Governor Jeanette Nunez
Chief of Staff James Uthmeier
Rep. Cory Mills
State Senator Jay Collins
First, AG Moody would rather run for governor, and while she would probably accept the appointment, DeSantis we are told, wants someone to serve in Rubio’s seat for at least the next 8 years.
Second, Lt, Nunez, who is friends with Rubio and his family, is seen as a logical choice to replace the senior senator from Florida considering that she is also Cuban-American and hails from the Spanish-speaking Peoples Republic of Miami-Dade County.
But does she want to travel to Washington, D.C. every week and attempt to carry the heavily load Rubio has carried since 2011?
DeSantis’ chief of Staff James Uthmeier is probably one of the dark horse potential candidates.
Even though he did flirt with running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 2nd District, could DeSantis’ executive office maestro be ready to for the Senate? Does he even want it?
Moody, Nunez, and Uthmeier are all part of DeSantis World, but what about the outsiders?
Enter the military veterans.
Rep. Brian Mast, the combat wounded veteran who lost both his legs and a digit fighting terrorism alongside U.S. Army Rangers in Afghanistan, would be a good choice and has been mentioned in conversations around certain political water coolers, but while the optic of DeSantis choosing Rep. Mast is golden, DeSantis could still hold some animosity towards Rep. Mast and other congressmen who endorsed President-elect Donald Trump in the contentious 2024 Republican Presidential Primary election.
Another one of the Trump-Republicans in Rep. Cory Mills. Like Mast, Mills was also shunned by DeSantis after he announced his support for President Trump early in the presidential primary campaign.
Rep. Mills, who recently stated that he would be “honored” to replace Rubio in the Senate, is also a combat veteran that served in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and checks of many of the boxes that could help him successfully replace Rubio.
And then there is Senator Jay Collins, the U.S. Army Green Beret.
Sen. Collins has always been a huge Trump supporter, but unlike Reps. Mast and Mills, he endorsed DeSantis, not Trump.
Many state lawmakers coalesced behind DeSantis over Trump after the governor’s office made a hard ask about endorsing in the presidential primary election.
Several state lawmakers, who asked (begged) for anonymity in this story, told The Floridian that they felt they really didn’t have a choice when they were asked to endorse DeSantis over Trump.
Sen. Collins, along with Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, helped DeSantis structure some of the key pieces of legislation he championed—immigration reform, combatting China, veterans issues.
Collins, who is also a wounded combat veteran (Right let amputated), spearheaded DeSantis’ agenda, and rightly so.
But while he pushed DeSantis along, he appears to have always kept his eye on the ball—Congress.
Collins was running for the House of Representatives before DeSantis called him and asked him to run for the senate seat he currently holds.
Outside of DeSantis top three potential picks, Collins could be the one outsider that is both MAGA and shown loyalty to DeSantis.
Like Mills, Collins checks off all the boxes.
The advantage Collins has over Mills is that he has been in many legislative trenches with DeSantis, and that could prove to be a deciding factor.
This is DeSantis’ call, and only his call to make as President Trump recently said.
Will DeSantis choose someone he feels will best serve is future political needs or aspirations, or will he pick a fellow military veteran with similar leadership skills, and someone who has bleed on an actual hostile battlefield, and not in some political jungle?
One thing to consider is that with House Republicans enjoying such a small majority, would DeSantis risk that majority by tapping Mills or Mast?
Then again, DeSantis could always appoint himself to the Senate seat and call it a day, and just continue indulging himself in football trivia with his son Mason.
