ANNALS OF DeSANTISTAN: Commentary: How dominoes would fall from a DeSantis exit | Steve Bousquet (Orlando Sentinel, December 10, 2024)

From December 10, 2024 Orlando Sentinel:

Commentary: How dominoes would fall from a DeSantis exit | Steve Bousquet

President Donald Trump, right, and Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis hold a COVID-19 and storm preparedness roundtable in Belleair, Florida, July 31, 2020. DeSantis ripped into Trump in a video call to supporters on Wednesday. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

By STEVE BOUSQUET | sbousquet@sunsentinel.com

PUBLISHED: December 10, 2024 at 5:30 AM EST

It just sounds too good to be true — that Ron DeSantis would resign as governor of Florida to become Donald Trump’s secretary of Defense.

But the possibility, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, appears real, though it is built on some major assumptions, like the failure of Trump’s first Pentagon pick, the embattled Pete Hegseth, to get enough support to win Senate confirmation.

Just the possibility has everyone in Tallahassee talking, because it would transform Florida politics in many ways. To those long weary of DeSantis, it is the stuff of fantasy to see him far from Florida, permanently.

“Pray. Pray hard,” Mac Stipanovich, a former top adviser to two Republican Florida governors and a fervent opponent of both Trump and DeSantis, posted on Facebook.

DeSantis, 46, has two years left in his second, final term as governor, so he needs a place to land. Running the Pentagon, even for a couple of years, could easily land this Navy veteran and lawyer a lucrative deal at a defense contractor and a path to corporate boards.

But would he do it? And would Trump offer it?

Mike Stocker/Sun Sentinel

Steve Bousquet is a Sun Sentinel columnist.

Some flatly dismiss any chance of Trump offering DeSantis anything. They clashed repeatedly during the campaign, with Trump belittling DeSantis for having “no personality” and DeSantis criticizing “hush money to a porn star” without saying Trump’s name.

“Trump is a very forgiving person,” says Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota, a loyal supporter of the president-elect.

But he added that if DeSantis leaves the Governor’s Mansion, “I will certainly be surprised.”

For the moment, let’s assume Trump offers DeSantis the job and he takes it. He’s a plausible nominee and likely would be confirmed after some very lively hearings.

If that happens, the political dominoes in Florida would topple as never before.

Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez of Miami would become the first female governor in state history.

Núñez, 52, was a respected legislator before she became DeSantis’ running mate, but the LG’s job is notoriously obscure. That explains her lack of statewide name recognition after six years.

That’s why, if Governor Núñez seeks a four-year term, she surely would face a serious challenge in a GOP primary that would likely be won by whoever gets Trump’s endorsement. No LG has been elected governor since the job was created in 1968, and there is a reason: It’s an empty job with no real responsibility.

But maybe not. A knowledgeable source says Núñez has her sights elsewhere as a possible president of her alma mater, FIU, from which she holds two degrees.

Even as a caretaker governor, Núñez would have to appoint a new lieutenant governor — as another domino falls.

The biggest domino of all is a U.S. Senate seat, vacated when Marco Rubio is confirmed as Trump’s secretary of State. Whoever is chosen serves until the next election in 2026.

Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, a co-chair of the Republican National Committee, is interested, and Donald Trump wants her appointed.

If Trump makes DeSantis secretary of Defense, so goes the thinking, Lara Trump will then become a senator — but perhaps not by DeSantis, as it would be a blatant quid pro quo. It would look a little less messy if Núñez made the appointment after she becomes governor, even though the result is the same.

Dominoes will keep falling, whether DeSantis goes or stays.

Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is leaving his state Cabinet post to run for the Panhandle congressional seat vacated by Matt Gaetz, who left it for an ill-fated nomination as Trump’s attorney general.

The governor will appoint a new CFO until the next election in 2026. Gruters, a CPA and a termed-out senator, is already running for CFO with Trump’s support.

A GOP source tells me DeSantis could replace Patronis with Chuck Perdue, the elected tax collector in Panama City’s Bay County, partly because DeSantis’ deputy chief of staff, Cody Farrill, is interested in returning to his native Bay County to run for Perdue’s seat.

As elected constitutional officers, tax collectors make good money, and once in office, they are tough to beat.

Amid this scramble, Pam Bondi, who’s sure to win confirmation as U.S. attorney general, instantly would be a leading candidate for governor in 2028 or 2032. But a lot depends on how things go for her in D.C.

In a post-DeSantis Florida, Democrats may see a path to exploit the upheaval, weaponizing chaos and making the 2026 governor’s race more competitive in a midterm election when a sitting president’s popularity is likely to take a major hit.

It’s all possible. But put me down as a skeptic for now. It all sounds too good to be true.

Steve Bousquet is Opinion Editor of the Sun Sentinel and a columnist in Tallahassee and Fort Lauderdale.