Florida is rapidly becoming the most influential state in president-elect Donald Trump's upcoming cabinet. Besides U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio set to become the next Secretary of State, former State Attorney General, Trump has already nominated Susie Wiles as Chief of Staff, former state Attorney General Pam Bondi as AG and Mike Waltz as National Security Advisor.
On Wednesday, news came out that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is reportedly being added to the list as Trump is considering him as a potential replacement of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense nominee.
The move would not only mean that the Sunshine State would asserts its influence on Trump's second term even more but it would also mean that Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez would make history as the first female and first Cuban-American to lead the state.
But who exactly is Nuñez?
Born on June 6, 1972, in Miami, Florida, she is the daughter of Cuban immigrants who fled the Castro regime in search of freedom and opportunity in the United States. Nuñez grew up in South Florida, an area rich in Latino culture and heavily influenced by the Cuban-American community which would go on to shape her political views later on in life.
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She graduated from Florida International University (FIU) with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science and International Relations, followed by a Master's degree in Public Administration. When incumbent state representative David Rivera was unable to seek re-election in 2010 due to term limits, Nuñez ran to succeed him in the 112th district.
She went on to represent Miami-Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018, also serving as speaker pro tempore for her final two years in the office.
On September 5, 2018, DeSantis selected Nuñez to be his running mate in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, facing off against Andrew Gillum and his running mate Chris King. DeSantis and Nuñez would go on to win the election by a margin of less than half of a percentage point, making Nuñez the first Latina woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Florida.
During her time in the House, one of her most notable actions was advocating for a bill to let qualified Florida students pay in-state college tuition rates even if they were in the country illegally. "Don't hold these children responsible for something they had no control over," she said at the time. However, as DeSantis' second-in-command in 2023 she walked back on her proposal saying the state could no longer support the number of undocumented Floridians going to college.
In 2022, already working with DeSantis, Nuñez made headlines for appearing to suggest on a radio show that Cubans who were in Florida "illegally" should be bused out of the state. When asked her opinion on the historic number of Cubans coming from the communist island through the southern U.S. border to South Florida, and how it may impact communities in the state, she said:
"The governor (DeSantis) isn't going to stand there with his arms crossed. He's thinking what he's going to do. He's going to send them, frankly to the state of Delaware, the President's state"
During a press conference, Miami Latino Democrats slammed Nuñez and the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis for advancing immigration policies that they said affect Cubans who are fleeing a communist regime. Former Miami mayor Manny Diaz went as far as to say that Nuñez had become an "instrument" of DeSantis' reelection campaign.
Like DeSantis, Nuñez has also held a strong stance against Venezuela's Maduro, lashing out at his regime after the heavily-questioned July elections in which he was proclaimed president:
Yet again, dictator Nicolás Maduro and his corrupt pawns have suppressed the will of the Venezuelan people.
— Jeanette Nuñez (@LtGovNunez) July 29, 2024
They have proclaimed Maduro as the winner of yesterday’s sham elections.
Florida stands with the people of Venezuela in their fight for freedom and democracy.
As for her relationship with Trump, Nuñez wrote in a since deleted Twitter post during 2016's presidential primary the following message which also signaled her support for then candidate Marco Rubio:
"Wake up Florida voters, Trump is the biggest con-man there is #nosubstance #anti-Israel #supportsKKK #neverTrump VOTE @marcorubio #RUBIO"
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