Ron DeSantis slams the door on Matt Gaetz’s hopes of being a senator

21 November 2024

If former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was hoping to continue his career as an elected official via gubernatorial appointment, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis isn't entertaining the idea.

That's according to a new report in the conservative National Review by journalist Audrey Fahlberg. She cited "a source familiar with the governor’s thinking" was certain that the former congressman from Florida's 1st Congressional District was not on DeSantis' shortlist of candidates for the seat to be vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in the event he's confirmed as the next secretary of state.

"He won’t appoint Matt," Fahlberg's source said.

Fahlberg further reported that DeSantis has been considering several potential candidates for the seat, and that he expects to make his official announcement in January. One name that has been floated is Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, who is the president-elect's daughter-in-law through her marriage to Eric Trump.

Whoever ends up filling that seat would serve until 2026. At that point, a special election would be called to determine who would serve in the seat throughout the remainder of Rubio's term, which runs through January of 2029. Political strategist and columnist Cheri Jacobus — a former RNC communications staffer, suggested that Trump may have intended to put Rubio at the State Department in order to "open the seat for his daughter-in-law."

"I think that may be the main reason Trump picked Rubio," Jacobus wrote on Bluesky last week.

Gaetz announced Thursday he would not remain attorney general-designate despite President-elect Donald Trump nominating him just eight days ago. CNBC's Carl Quintanilla posted to the social media platform Bluesky that Gaetz now holds the new record for the shortest time between being nominated and being withdrawn from consideration.

Click here to read Fahlberg's article in the National Review.

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