President-elect Donald Trump has revealed who he would like to see Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis choose to replace former Congressman Matt Gaetz in the House of Representatives and his choice is Jimmy Patronis. Patronis is the chief financial officer for the state. Gaetz left the position in Congress to prepare for his nomination to Attorney General. However, he decided to drop out of consideration due to allegations of sexual misconduct, despite the Justice Department deciding not to charge him with any crimes. He stated he withdrew in order to avoid making the confirmation process for other members of the future cabinet less difficult and clouded by controversy.
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Trump said that Patronis had “been a wonderful friend to me,” even though Patronis did not endorse Trump in this year’s presidential race until after DeSantis withdrew from the primary. “Should he decide to enter this Race, Jimmy Patronis has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JIMMY, RUN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Patronis appeared ready to take that advice. He put out his own social media post on Monday afternoon that said “Put me to work, Mr. President! … I am here to serve.” Trump’s decision to back Patronis follows his public support of state Sen. Randy Fine for the congressional seat of another one of his picks in a second administration, Rep. Mike Waltz.
It comes at a key moment. Elected officials interested in running in the special election to pick Gaetz’s successor are required on Monday to submit their resign-to-run letters if they want to hold on to their seats while campaigning. Two state legislators had already said they planned to jump into the race, as has one local elected official.
Another seat that’s soon to be vacated in Florida is the one held by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, leaving another void for DeSantis to fill. The president-elect’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, has said she’s interested in being appointed to the seat. The replacements will serve until the next election cycle in two years. They will then run for the seat against Democratic Party challengers and potential GOP challengers in a primary.
“Patronis, whose family runs a famous restaurant in Panama City, has been the state’s chief financial officer, a statewide elected post, since being appointed to it in 2017 by then-Gov. Rick Scott. Patronis, who had been a legislator, had been a strong ally to Scott going back to his first run as governor when Patronis supported him over the GOP candidate backed by most of Florida’s Republican establishment,” the report later revealed. “Patronis does not live in Gaetz’s congressional district, but he is well known throughout the region.”