It’s DeSantis decision time if Rubio wins Trump’s veepstakes
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When it comes to the Donald Trump veepstakes, one Florida senator isn’t going away.
Perhaps it’s just the goodwill of fellow Sunshine Stater and senior Trump campaign adviser Susie Wiles, but Marco Rubio is still in the mix, with Trump’s VP selection imminent.
Given the timing of the former president’s Tuesday rally in Doral, Fla., the announcement could be just hours away.
Marco Rubio shares are trading at 14 cents on political-prediction-market aggregator site Polymarket at this writing, placing him behind Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum but ahead of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is making a late surge with investors who see him putting his purple state in play.
Rubio will be at the event, of course. And assuming he’s Trump’s pick, that will leave another Florida man with a big decision.
In that case, Gov. Ron DeSantis would be charged with replacing Rubio in the Senate, per the Constitution’s 17th Amendment, until a special election.
For DeSantis, that opportunity only presents upsides, should the former president provide it to him.
One wrinkle of Florida politics: The governor doesn’t exactly dialogue with Sunshine State senators.
There are good reasons for some of this — DeSantis wasn’t thrilled with how then-Gov. Rick Scott left office.
Scott memorably delayed entering the Senate in 2019 to milk his tenure to the very last moment, with a party in the governor’s mansion hours before DeSantis’ inauguration — and after Florida’s new first family had moved in. Adding insult to injury, Scott later left DeSantis’ inauguration early, presumably to beat the crowds.
Scott has shared his own complaints, to this day noting on numerous occasions that DeSantis never reached out to him in the wake of state-level crises.
It’s not quite as bad with Rubio. Yet the senator has mentioned that months have passed between conversations with DeSantis. There’s no reason to think they’re talking much now either.
That means if Rubio is Trump’s pick, DeSantis has an opportunity to install someone he trusts and works well with in the role.
Possibilities abound — including inside the governor’s mansion.
Casey DeSantis is telegenic, ambitious and involved in policy — seeming in some ways a prime choice for her husband.
A former TV newscaster, Florida’s first lady would be able to parlay that experience into a national platform. And she’s clearly attuned to what the governor wants — as those who saw his presidential campaign know, there was a “two for the price of one” vibe to their presentation not unlike that of Bill and Hillary Clinton decades ago.
The problem with that pick is not political but personal. The DeSantis family has three school-aged children, and Mrs. DeSantis is a very active and involved mother, so it’s hard to imagine her wanting to move to Washington.
Other options could be in play, including Attorney General Ashley Moody and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez. Both have shown unstinting loyalty to DeSantis and his agenda, and both are thought to be gunning for the governor’s seat in 2026.
Selecting Moody or Nunez would narrow down the governor’s race to succeed him, creating a Casey-sized lane in a race where polls say Republicans prefer her to any other potential candidate and outlets like National Review are already excited about her succeeding her husband.
Other people who have been less loyal to DeSantis — Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis and Ag Commish Wilton Simpson, along with the congressional delegation, most of whom endorsed Trump when DeSantis was still in the race — are probably out of the mix.
That’s no surprise since the ultimate benefit for the governor would be having a senator he could work with.
To that end, there are also some potential wildcards, like former Florida House Speaker José Oliva — he worked for DeSantis’ presidential campaign helping with Hispanic outreach.
Another name to look out: The governor’s chief of staff, James Uthmeier, who helmed DeSantis’ presidential campaign before returning to the governor’s office.
Uthmeier has had political ambitions of his own for some time, and an insider pick like that would be similar to former Gov. Charlie Crist’s selection of George LeMieux — his former chief of staff who also helped Crist’s campaign side throughout his career.
DeSantis has been a untraditional, transformative governor in many ways. But given the chance to make his mark on the Senate, he’s likely to choose continuity and predictability over a wildcard maverick.
