A.G. Gancarski
Florida’s Governor isn’t committing to a time frame for picking his second-in-command.
That’s despite recently filling another vacant position by naming Blaise Ingoglia as Chief Financial Officer.
Gov. Ron DeSantis reminded reporters and supporters that he said he “would deal with these appointments after the Legislative Session, (which) obviously went till the end of June.”
“We were able to do the CFO. So the LG we’re working on. I’ve just got to vet people, right? And there’s different folks that want it,” DeSantis said.
“It’ll be soon, but it’s not necessarily going to be, you know, today or tomorrow,” DeSantis added, ignoring a reporter’s leading question that it could be Sen. Jay Collins.
In May, DeSantis said both picks would happen “relatively soon.” The replacement for Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez has been mulled for months. Nuñez became the interim President of Florida International University on Feb. 7. Since then, she has been made permanent head of the university.
The LG opening may be less pressing to fill, given that the primary job function of the LG is to stay alive in case of death or incapacity of the Governor.
Former Gov. Rick Scott waited 10 months to fill the opening created by Jennifer Carroll’s resignation during his time in office.
With the seemingly still-alive possibility of First Lady Casey DeSantis running for Governor, it could be that Ron DeSantis wants to ensure any appointee would stand down if she opts to take on U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and the President’s political machine that backs the Naples Republican.
