GOP’s DeSantis selects Nuñez, first Cuban-American woman in role
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis on Thursday chose as his running mate Miami state Rep. Jeanette Nuñez, the first Cuban-American woman to become a candidate for lieutenant governor in Florida history.
“I’m picking a very special person for lieutenant governor,’’ said DeSantis at a Republican rally at the Ace Cafe in downtown Orlando. “Jeanette is
smart; she’s principled. She’s been an extremely effective legislator.”
The main theme of the rally was GOP unity, as DeSantis stood side-by-side with Gov. Rick Scott and other Republican candidates running for statewide offices.
To bolster the message, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who was defeated by DeSantis in the last month’s Republican primary, shook hands with his former political opponent.
“You teach your kids that after a hard-fought contest, you walk to the middle of the field and you shake hands,” Putnam said. “We rally behind our values as Republicans.’’
DeSantis, standing next to Putnam, smiled and agreed.
“We’ve got a great team, and we’re going to tell Floridians that we want to continue our ascent,’’ DeSantis said. “Vote for Gov. Scott for the U.S. Senate. Vote for me and Jeanette Nuñez on the gubernatorial ticket. Vote for our tremendous Cabinet officials ….This is a winning ticket for Florida.”
Nuñez, 46, is a Miami native who has served eight years in the Florida House.
“I’m thrilled to be here,” Nuñez said at the rally. “I’m excited to stand alongside with him [DeSantis] and make sure that we push Florida in a path that is going to continue the prosperity that we’ve seen.’’
For the past two years, Nuñez has been on House Speaker Richard Corcoran’s leadership team as speaker pro tem, a role in which she helped usher his agenda through the chamber.
That’s led to a mixed record on one of DeSantis’ key issues — illegal immigration.
Nuñez sponsored the bill in 2014 that gave children brought illegally to the state by their parents the ability to pay in-state tuition rates at state colleges. The vote was championed by GOP leaders such as Scott, but the vote split the party, with 32 Republicans voting against it.
But she also voted for a bill cracking down on sanctuary cities by imposing fines on city council members who approve such policies and banning state grants to such cities. The bill died in the Senate, however.
According to Politico, Nuñez initially was hesitant to run statewide but decided to do so in part because of encouragement from U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami, a political ally whom she initially supported for president in 2016.
Florida Democrats immediately pounced on the pick, pointing out that Nuñez was once a critic of President Donald Trump, a key DeSantis supporter who helped the congressman defeat GOP Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in the primary last month.
“Wake up Florida voters, Trump is the biggest conman there is. #nosubstance #anti-Israel #supportsKKK #nevertrump,” she wrote March 3, 2016 on Twitter. “VOTE @marcorubio #RUBIO.”
At the event, Nuñez dismissed the criticism.
“Elections are elections. It is what it is,” she said. “It’s no secret that I was a strong Marco Rubio supporter. But that election is done, and I’m looking forward to this election.”
DeSantis, 39, also shrugged off the comments as a “non-issue” and defended his new running mate.
“We have these primaries, and we tussle,” DeSantis said. “Adam [Putnam] and I tussled. And then here he is, and he’s endorsing the ticket. Had I lost the ticket, I would’ve been here endorsing him [Putnam] ...To support Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American, if I were in her shoes I probably would’ve been supporting Marco as well.”
DeSantis called on the Republican Party in Florida to wage a united campaign against Democrats.
“We are really united on having a prosperous path forward for Florida,” DeSantis said. “I think we’ve got a great ticket.’’