Senate committee unanimously rejects Joel Rudman appointment as Pensacola State Trustee

Dr Joel Rudman playing his Ted Nugent guitar

The Senate Higher Education Appropriations Committee has unanimously voted down appointing former Rep. Joel Rudman to the Pensacola State College Board of Trustees.

The Navarre Republican faced trouble from the committee based on comments he made on a recent X Spaces chat. Senators said his apparent threats to expose or embarrass lawmakers if he wasn’t confirmed would not be tolerated.

“There’s no way you can read those comments and, with a straight face, tell people that they weren’t intended to intimidate and influence the Senators on this panel,” said Sen. Tom Leek, an Ormond Beach Republican, “and that is something I cannot abide.”

The comments in question included remarks that lawmakers had committed crimes, along with assertions that he knew embarrassing details about elected officials serving in the Legislature.

“I do have a confirmation hearing in front of the Senate this Tuesday. Some of these cards I have to keep on me,” Rudman said on X.

“We need to drug test our legislators read between the lines. I won’t name any names. I know where the bodies are buried, but if they come after me in this confirmation hearing on Tuesday, maybe we can do another Spaces, and I can give you some names. Let’s see how they behave on Tuesday.”

Rudman in the committee told Senators his harsh rhetoric online was intended at leadership of the House.

“The current setup of the Florida House is, they’re undoing the hard work of Tom Leek. They’re undoing the hard work of Paul Renner,” Rudman said.

That reflects frustration he has voiced since before the start of the Legislative Session and a belief that Speaker Daniel Perez was “itching for a fight” with Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Rudman won election in House District 3 in 2022 and again in 2024, but resigned to run for Congress in a Special Election in Florida’s 1st Congressional District. He lost in a Republican Primary to now-U.S. Rep. Jimmy Patronis, a Fort Walton Republican, but Rudman’s resignation was irrevocable.

DeSantis appointed Rudman to one of several openings on the Pensacola State Board in February.

Senators offered different criticisms of Rudman. Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, said he was frustrated that DeSantis picked Rudman, a physician and former lawmaker, for the appointment at all.

“These appointments to various Boards of Trustees in our state, they’re being given out like loyalty trophies,” he said.

Indeed, Rudman was at a Pensacola press conference shortly before he gave his remote testimony to the committee defending DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis while criticizing the House, as Representatives in the lower chamber ramp up pressure over Hope Florida spending.

Some lawmakers counted themselves as political allies with Rudman during his time in the House. But they said the threatening rhetoric was impossible to ignore.

“I don’t believe that I’m in a position to be able to vote to confirm going forward,” said Sen. Danny Burgess, a Zephyrhills Republican. “And it does pain me to do that, because I know Doc as well and enjoyed a good relationship with him, but I just think those comments really do paint us in a certain corner where we’re left with only this result.”

The negative vote from the committee doesn’t end the confirmation process. Rudman’s nomination may go forward to the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee. But the Senators’ reaction signaled that it’s unlikely that Rudman would be confirmed on the Senate floor.