Gov. Scott won’t resign early to take Senate seat
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Rick Scott, recently elected to the U.S. Senate, will not resign as governor five days before his term ends to be sworn in along with his fellow senators, his office said Tuesday.
Scott’s term as governor will end at midnight Jan. 7, five days after his term as U.S. Senator was set to begin.
“When Governor Scott was elected Governor of Florida, he promised to fight for Florida families every single day of his term,” Scott spokesman John Tupps stated in an email. “Governor Scott will remain Governor until Jan. 8, 2019. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has agreed to hold the ceremony for Governor Scott’s swearing-in as U.S. Senator from Florida that afternoon.”
The move means Scott’s lieutenant governor, Carlos Lopez-Cantera won’t assume the governorship for five days before Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis is sworn in.
It also puts Scott in the position of being the senator with the least seniority, a factor in doling out committee membership assignments.
Scott pushed for a bill passed by the Legislature to change Florida’s resign-torun law that calls on elected officials to resign if they run for another office if the terms overlap. The change allowed an exemption for federal offices, giving Scott the option to stay for the full term.
A similar instance happened in 1987, when Bob Graham moved from governor to the U.S. Senate, resigning three days early. His lieutenant governor, Wayne Mixson, took over the governorship for three days before Bob Martinez took the helm. He made several appointments and attended a Cabinet meeting in his brief tenure.