‘It’s all eyes on Florida:’ Statewide and local Florida leaders land key roles in White House, eyeing leadership roles in Congress

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It may have been Governor Ron DeSantis who promised to ‘Make America Florida’ during his Presidential bid, but it’s President-Elect Donald Trump who seems to be implementing that plan.

Trump has already picked a handful of Florida leaders to serve in his administration.

Susie Wiles, who served in two Jacksonville mayoral administrations, has been picked for Chief of Staff.

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US Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL 6th District) who represents parts of St. Johns County has been selected as Trump’s National Security Advisor.

US Senator Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is also expected to be named Secretary of State.

It’s not just White House roles being eyed by local and statewide leaders in Florida either.

US Rep. Kat Cammack (R-FL 3rd District) plans to run for Republican Conference Chair in the House and US Senator Rick Scott (R-Florida) is making a bid to become the next Senate Majority Leader.

“Look, it’s all eyes on Florida. It has been for a while,” said State Representative and Duval GOP Chair Dean Black (R-Yulee).

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Black argued with Trump set to become the first US President to call Florida home, it’s no surprise Florida leaders are rising to the top.

“People ask me, what is America gonna look like 10, 20, 30 years from now as we make America great again, and I think it looks a lot like Florida,” said Black.

State Representative Angie Nixon (D-Jacksonville) on the other hand doesn’t see the ‘Floridization’ of DC as a positive.

“We can’t afford Florida anymore and now the rest of the country is not gonna be able to afford to be in America anymore,” said Nixon.

But UNF political science professor Dr. Michael Binder argued there could be some monetary advantages that come with having a large footprint in the halls of power, not only for our area, but for Florida as a whole.

“Now maybe their appropriations requests get looked at more favorably and that gets some more resources poured down into Northeast Florida,” said Binder.

Now the open question is: Who will step into fill some of these soon-to-be vacated positions in Florida?

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With Waltz’s seat, Governor DeSantis will have to set dates for a special election to select someone to finish out the remainder of his term.

Expect that to happen sooner rather than later.

In the case of Rubio, DeSantis would get to make an appointment.

That person would get to serve until the next General Election in 2026.

That’s when voters would get to decide who gets to fill out the remainder of Rubio’s term, which is set to end in 2029.

In 2028, there would be another election where voters will pick who will serve a full six-year term after Rubio’s current term comes to a close.

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