TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – President-elect Donald Trump is considering alternatives to Pete Hegseth for the Secretary of Defense post, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to multiple reports.
If DeSantis, 46, were to take the job, who would become the governor of Florida?
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According to Florida Statute 14.055, if there’s a vacancy in the governor’s office, the lieutenant governor would assume the top spot in the Sunshine State.
That means Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez would become the governor of Florida.
Nuñez, DeSantis’ running mate during both of his election campaigns, was born and raised in Miami and was elected as Florida’s first Hispanic female lieutenant governor in 2018.
She has been tasked with overseeing the Florida Department of Health, as well as serving as the chair of Space Florida. Additionally, she currently serves as chair of Florida’s Cybersecurity Task Force and is also a member of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.
Nuñez is a graduate of Florida International University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Political Science and a master’s degree in Public Administration. She is married to Adrian Nuñez, and they are the parents of three children.
DeSantis, who competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, is being discussed as a possible replacement if Hegseth’s nomination does not move forward, according to three other people familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity, the AP reported.
DeSantis is a former Trump ally-turned-rival who became the subject of intense ridicule and hostility from Trump and his campaign when the Florida governor challenged him in the presidential primary.
When DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump, the two seemed to have struck a calculated truce, but deep distrust between their closest aides remained.
DeSantis, a former congressman and Navy officer, would likely face a smoother time than Hegseth in the Senate, where Republicans are regaining the majority in January.
The governor was a Navy judge advocate general officer, a position that took him to Iraq and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
As a presidential candidate, he called for ridding the military of “woke” policies.