Rubio, Gaetz And Waltz In Trump Cabinet – JP
A Florida Triumverate of Appointments Brings DeSantis Power That Bears Watching
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Three Floridians will be named to Trump’s next Cabinet: Sen. Marco Rubio for Secretary of State; Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General; and Mike Waltz for National Security Advisor. It is very understandable that Trump relies on people from his own home state. These are all qualified candidates, yet there is an other issue.
Will the process of replacements for these three, force Ron DeSantis to show his Anti-MAGA hand?
Statute says that the Governor APPOINTS a replacement for the Senate seat, and must hold a SPECIAL ELECTION for replacement members of the House of Representatives. Currently, Rep. Gaetz Represents Florida’s 1st District, and Rep. Waltz, the 6th
Gov. Ronald DeSantis has one Senate seas to fill by appointment as Marco Rubio will become Trump’s Secretary of State.
It is no secret that DeGov’s RPOF (Rep. Party of FL) has been doing everything they could to disenfranchise MAGA Republicans throughout the state. The biggest question now is:
Will DeSantis show his Globalist hand, or try to hide his antipathy towards Donald Trump, and do the right thing. Will DeGov honor or step on the will of the people?
Here is a quick run-down of all of the blatant acts of Tallahassee against America First Conservatives. If you’ve been following this substack, you will remember.
First is the ongoing legal action against the Florida Republican Assembly (FRA), an an attempt to shut them down. This is the first, highly visible effort from Tally to destroy anyone who disagrees with them. The RPOF, by observation of conservatives around the state, has been acting against grassroots membership for several years now, although in a slightly more “subtle” fashion like rejecting the application of new members who were true conservatives.
The FRA, a Judeo-Christian group of MAGA supporters, with chapters in 18 Florida counties, was served this past April, by the RPOF “Rules Committee”, with a cease and desist order, to STOP USING THE ELEPHANT SYMBOL AND THE WORD, “REPUBLICAN”. The National Republican Assemblies, of which the FRA is a part, has been using both, for decades, as have hundreds of (not Democrat) organizations country-wide.
Those who oppose Liberal policies, for the most part, utilize the name, “Republican”. That is what happens in a Republic, Gov. DeSantis, , whether YOU and yours like it or not. See my article in the JP: https://miamiindependent.com/the-war-of-the-elephants/#comments
This attack on the FRA occurred at the same time as a strong Trump supporter in Tallahassee, RPOF National Committeeman, Peter Feaman, was removed from all meaningful committee assignments heading into the party nominating convention last July, 2024. Here is Mr. Feaman’s story, and the letter he made public explaining the underhanded actions of the Anti-Trump gang in Florida state government. This was more of a stealth attack than the ridiculous law suit, but none the less obvious.
Then, in the 2024 Primary voting season , came the battle of the RPOF v. Manatee County, another group of strong Trump supporters. This bout also had a side show called “Fake Voter Guides”. I’ve covered them both.
Let’s start with the fake voter guides, printed and funded by groups within the Tally gang. These guides were sent around 7 counties, Sarasota, Manatee, St. Lucie, Brevard, Lake, Hillsborough, and St. Johns as voters were approaching primary voting and tried to learn for whom to cast their ballots. Some voters in other conservative counties, such as Collier, received them as well.
These “guides”recommended voting for candidates who were NOT America-First, misrepresenting those featured as approved by Trump and DeSantis. The words, “Trump” and MAGA” were prominently displayed without the permission of those groups. The recommendations were lies in print.
THEN…the RPOF literally SHUT DOWN the Republican Executive Committee of Manatee County on Sept. 4, directly after they voted for a MAGA slate in the August 2024 primaries. The RPOF declared there had been police reports and complaints which bore further investigation. Those, in fact were misstated. The ‘complaints were not against MAGA folks, but against RINO actions. Refresh yourself on the facts in my Sept. 7 article on this attack on MAGA Republicans in Manatee County.
The RPOF was also involved in trying to replace a citizen-chosen slate of officers in St. John’s County, and removing other MAGA Floridians in Sarasota and Collier Counties. The DeSantis team told Hillsborough County REC in 2022, that DeSantis was definitely NOT “America First”. This, if you had any doubt.
THIS IS THE SOURCE OF MY CONCERN NOW. I believe this should be a concern of every Ameica First citizen of Florida.
Florida law givees the Governor the task of appointing someone to fill the seat of a US Senator, when vacated. That applies to Senator Marco Rubio, of course, as he becomes Trump’s Secretary of State.
Florida statute is a bit unclear – to this writer at least – as to the process of WHO can/will run in the special election required for those other two vacant HOUSE seats, of Gaetz and Waltz. At the risk of making this a long article, I give you the applicable sectioins of Fl. statute s.100.101:
Whenever there is a vacancy for which a special election is required pursuant to s. 100.101, the Governor, after consultation with the Secretary of State, shall fix the dates of a special primary election and a special election. Nominees of political parties shall be chosen under the primary laws of this state in the special primary election to become candidates in the special election. Prior to setting the special election dates, the Governor shall consider any upcoming elections in the jurisdiction where the special election will be held. The dates fixed by the Governor shall be specific days certain and shall not be established by the happening of a condition or stated in the alternative. The dates fixed shall provide a minimum of 2 weeks between each election. In the event a vacancy occurs in the office of state senator or member of the House of Representatives when the Legislature is in regular legislative session, the minimum times prescribed by this subsection may be waived upon concurrence of the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate. If a vacancy occurs in the office of state senator and no session of the Legislature is scheduled to be held prior to the next general election, the Governor may fix the dates for the special primary election and for the special election to coincide with the dates of the primary election and general election. If a vacancy in office occurs in any district in the state Senate or House of Representatives or in any congressional district, and no session of the Legislature, or session of Congress if the vacancy is in a congressional district, is scheduled to be held during the unexpired portion of the term, the Governor is not required to call a special election to fill such vacancy.
(a) The dates for candidates to qualify in such special election or special primary election shall be fixed by the Department of State, and candidates shall qualify not later than noon of the last day so fixed. The dates fixed for qualifying shall allow a minimum of 14 days between the last day of qualifying and the special primary election.
I am not a legal scholar, but to me, this section of code has some uncomfortable wiggle room. Frankly, I hope I am wrong, and, there is a concrete process to be followed, which allows for the PEOPLE’S VOICE to be heard.
The special election could take months, making the Conservative majority in the US House even more slim. If it is allowed to drag on, that would say a lot.
If candidates for the special election are chosen by the RPOF in any way, this would be another blatant move against MAGA in Florida.
It is already abundantly clear that DeSantis and the RPOF do NOT believe in the people’s choice. If he appoints himself, or First Lady, Casey, to fill Rubio’s seat, it would be a clear attempt to grow the DeSantis power base ahead of another possible run for POTUS, at which he failed so misereably last year.
Likewise, if Tallahassee puts this process in slow motion, it could endanger the People’s Choice of the majority elected to the US House.
The DeSantis DeTails will be VERY interesting as the next weeks roll by. It is abundantly clear what the people of Florida choose. What is not clear is if DeGov cares.