Former Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz hinted Sunday that he may enter the race for Sen. Marco Rubio‘s (R-FL) seat in the upper chamber of Congress, which will likely be vacated after President-elect Donald Trump nominated Rubio for secretary of state.
Speaking at Turning Point USA’s AmFest in Phoenix, Arizona, Gaetz said he has received suggestions on what he should do in politics next following a tumultuous past two months that saw him resign from his perch in the House after being nominated for attorney general of the Department of Justice, only for that bid to fall through in the face of a House Ethics report set to be released soon into allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
He proceeded to bounce off those ideas: “My fellow Floridians have asked me to eye the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee. Maybe special counsel to go after the insider trading from my former colleagues in Congress. It seems I may not have had enough support in the U.S. Senate, maybe I’ll just run for Marco Rubio’s vacant seat in the U.S. Senate and join some of those folks.”
The election for the governor’s mansion in the Sunshine State is not until 2026, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) term-limited. DeSantis, meanwhile, has been busy considering candidates to fill Rubio’s Senate seat should he be confirmed by the Senate for the high-level Cabinet post in the State Department.
That list got a little shorter after Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, removed her name from consideration, instead teasing a “big announcement” to come in January. She resigned as co-chair of the Republican National Committee earlier this month, which led to speculation and encouragement from Republicans that she should consider the role.
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Gaetz, however, has drawn the ire of some House Republicans, most notably former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who he opposed when the California Republican was launching his marathon bid for the speakership.
DeSantis set a special election date for Gaetz’s vacant House seat, with the primary being in late January of next year and the general election on April 1.
