Florida's Latest News

DeSantis to take more time to choose Rubio’s replacement in Senate

Gov. Ron DeSantis will take a little more time to mull a replacement for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, who has been tapped to serve as President-elect Donald Trump’s secretary of state.

DeSantis on Tuesday said he will appoint a senator to complete the remaining two years of Rubio’s term around the time of Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.

“I think we’ve got a number of great candidates, but I want to make sure that we know what we’re going to get,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Tampa.

When Rubio was named to Trump’s Cabinet in November, DeSantis said he expected to name a replacement by the beginning of January.

DeSantis reiterated Tuesday his appointee must be strong on immigration enforcement and support cutting the federal bureaucracy.

“I can endorse somebody and they run and win, like they don’t owe me anything,” DeSantis said. “But, if I’m appointing you, I want to know that you’re going to be strong on all these issues. Then you run in ’26 and get elected on your own. Right? Great. And then you can, you know, you answer to the voters there. But this one, for these next two years, we want somebody that’s really going to be able to deliver.”

Matt Gaetz: ‘I am starting to think about running for governor’

Matt Gaetz, the former U.S. representative turned conservative cable host, may not be done with politics.

Weeks after the release of a congressional report on sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz, the former U.S. representative told the Tampa Bay Times he’s “starting to think about running for governor” in 2026.

Chief among Gaetz’s stated policy concerns? The insurance crisis.

“I have a compelling vision for the state,” Gaetz said. “I understand how to fix the insurance problem, and it’s not to hand the keys to the state over to the insurance industry. If I run, I would be the most pro-consumer candidate on the Republican side.”

With the election 22 months out, Gaetz said he needs more time to pray about whether to seek Florida’s highest office and more time to discuss it with his wife, Ginger.

But Gaetz openly mulling a run is nonetheless noteworthy.

Lawmakers Look at Property Insurance

With property insurance remaining one of the biggest issues in Florida, Senate and House panels next week will receive presentations and discuss factors driving insurance costs. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Jan. 14 is slated to receive presentations from state Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky and Citizens Property Insurance Corp. President and CEO Tim Cerio. Later in the day, the House Insurance & Banking Subcommittee will hold a panel discussion about property-insurance cost drivers, according to meeting information posted on the House website.

House Panels Slated to Meet

Florida House subcommittees are scheduled to meet over two days during the week of Jan. 13, as lawmakers gear up for the March 4 start of the annual legislative session. A schedule posted Friday on the House website included times for 23 subcommittee meetings on Jan. 14 and Jan. 15. The schedule does not include meetings of full committees. The schedule also includes times Jan. 13 for three potential meetings of joint House and Senate committees. The Senate earlier released a schedule that showed committees are tentatively slated to meet over three days during the week.