President-Elect Donald Trump is looking at Florida lawmakers to fill out his cabinet positions.
READ MORE: Here's who Trump has picked as cabinet members and key advisers
Republican Congressman Mike Waltz will serve as the national security adviser. Waltz represents District 6, which extends from Saint Augustine down to Leesburg and DeLand.
Republican U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is expected to be Trump’s Secretary of State. Rubio and Trump have shared a tumultuous history having traded blows with each other during the 2016 presidential election as both men fought for the Republican nominee ticket. However, experts believe the position is a sign that both men are looking to see their history as water under the bridge.
“I think in politics, alliances can be short-lived. We used to have the phrase politics makes strange bedfellows. And I think this is perhaps another example of that,” said Patrick Rickert, a political science professor at Rollins College.
What happens to Rubio’s senate seat if he were to leave it?
Should Sen. Rubio vacate his seat, it would then fall on Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint a replacement, Ricket said. Then, the seat is up for grabs once the remainder of the term is over.
“States differ on the exact rules. [ In Florida], at the end of the term, it would trigger a special election at the next general election,” he said.
As for who DeSantis will pick, experts believe there are strategic choices.
Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nunez and Attorney General Ashley Moody are likely candidates, and are two choices the governor already has close ties with, said Aubrey Jewett, a political scientists professor at the University of Central Florida.
“Ashley Moody has been very loyal to Trump, very loyal to Governor DeSantis, and she's led the legal fight against many President Biden administration policies over the last few years,” Jewett said. “As a point of reference, Governor DeSantis could choose himself to be the next U.S. senator, but I don't think he will do that one, because I don't think he's that interested in the position.”
Jewett said that online groups have floated the idea of the governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, but he doesn’t think she’s a likely possibility, either.
“I think it's a bad look, even though some of his supporters [would] really love it,” Jewett said. “I don't think his wife is particularly interested because she shot down rumors about running for governor after her husband was term-limited out in the future.”
What happens to Mike Waltz’s Rep. seat when he vacates?
When Waltz trades his Florida Congressional seat for a position in Trump’s administration as National Security Advisor, a special election will trigger in District 6.
When this has happened to Democrat seats, DeSantis has been slow to call for a special election, Jewett said, but he thinks the governor will be quicker about it this time around.
“It's widely expected that Republicans will control the House of Representatives up in Washington, but it will be a thin margin …maybe six or eight people,” Jewett said. “[Republicans[ can't afford to be down too many people, so I think the governor will act very quickly on this, to call a special election.”
While it isn’t clear yet who else Trump has in mind for his cabinet, Jewett said picking from Florida is a wise move since picking Republican seats in Florida likely won’t result in seats falling to Democrats.
“President Trump is going to be very careful not to pick a Republican Congress person who's from a swing district that might lose in a special election, where they would then be down, a person in the count when it comes to who's the majority in the House,” he said. “You might expect the President to choose mostly people who are from very safe Republican districts.”
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