Lt. Gov Jeanette Nuñez could be 1st woman, 1st Cuban-American to be Florida governor

Florida government is seeing an abrupt shakeup, with President-elect Donald Trump nominating Reps. Matt Gaetz and Mike Waltz and Sen. Marco Rubio to cabinet posts and endorsing state Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis to take over Rubio’s seat.

That leaves holes in three important positions, even though Gaetz withdrew his nomination. Before that, Gaetz resigned his seat ahead of a looming House Ethics report on allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, which the former congressman has denied.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has called for special elections to fill the two U.S. Representative seats and must name replacements for Rubio and Patronis.

Now insiders are saying Trump might name DeSantis to lead the Pentagon, replacing his current nominee, Fox News host Pete Hegseth, who is facing his own allegations of wrongdoing in his personal and professional life.

That would put Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez in charge of the Sunshine State, making her both Florida’s first woman governor and first Cuban-American governor.

Here’s what to know:

Who is Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez?

Miami native Jeanette Marie Nuñez, 52, one of three daughters of Victor C. and Teresita Sánchez, went straight into politics after getting her undergraduate degree in political science and international relations from Florida International University, working as an aide to then-state Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla.

She went on to be vice president of government affairs at Jackson Health System, start her own company (OnPoint Strategies) and work for FIU as an adjunct professor and advisor, where she also completed her Master of Public Administration degree.

In 2010, Nuñez ran for the Florida House of Representatives to replace then-incumbent David Rivera. She ran on job creation, the economy and Medicaid reform and won, and was re-elected in 2012, 2014 and 2016.

During the last two years of her time in the state House, Nuñez served as speaker pro tempore under former House Speaker Richard Corcoran, who later became state Education Commissioner and president of the New College of Florida, the liberal arts college known for diversity and inclusiveness that the governor is remaking into a conservative institution.

During her time in the House, she advocated 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. She walked it back in 2023 as DeSantis’ second-in-command, saying the state could no longer support the number of undocumented Floridians going to college.

Nuñez also kicked off the legislation to make daylight saving time permanent in Florida, filing a bill with then-Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, in 2018.

She referred to it again last week when Elon Musk was publicly musing on ending “annoying time changes” in his new role as co-leader with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in Trump’s newly proposed advisory committee on government efficiency.

“In 2018, I made it happen in Florida,” she posted on X. “It’s time for the federal government to step up.”

When did Jeanette Nuñez become lieutenant governor of Florida?

DeSantis chose Nuñez as his running mate for what was then a longshot bid for governor in 2018, boosted by a Trump endorsement and winning a narrow victory over Democratic candidate and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

She quickly became a voice for Medicaid reform and controlling health care costs and helped DeSantis promote his hard-right policies in the state on topics such as immigration, removing DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) education in colleges and universities and the state’s rejection of math textbooks over supposed “critical race theory” indoctrination.

Nuñez is the highest-ranking Hispanic woman to be elected in Florida history, and the third woman to be lieutenant governor after Toni Jennings and Jennifer Carroll.

It’s “a huge source of pride for me, for my family, but most importantly for my community,” Nuñez told NBC News.

Did Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez call Trump a con man?

“Wake up Florida voters, Trump is the biggest con-man there is,” Nuñez wrote in a Twitter (now X) post in 2016 during the presidential primary, when she backed U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s bid against Trump. “#nosubstance #anti-Israel #supportsKKK #neverTrump VOTE @marcorubio #RUBIO”

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that she deleted the tweet soon after she was named DeSantis’ running mate.

Is Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez married?

Nuñez is married to Adrian Nuñez, and the couple have three children.

Ana Goñi-Lessan of the Tallahassee Democrat contributed to this story.

ORLANDO, Fla. – After another chilly and frosty start Wednesday morning across Central Florida, temperatures will begin the gradual warming trend as high pressure continues to slide across the Southeast.

Highs are expected to remain well below average Wednesday, in the mid to upper 60s.

Later in the evening and early Thursday morning, temperatures will warm up more noticeably, with most areas seeing lows in the mid to upper 40s. However, northern Lake and inland Volusia counties could still dip into the low 40s.

Late Week

Looking ahead to Thursday and Friday, high pressure will shift further into the Atlantic, making room for another cold front to reach the Deep South. By Thursday night, the front will weaken as it reaches east-Central Florida, with minimal rain expected.

The biggest change will be the shift to westerly winds on Thursday, followed by northerly winds on Friday.

Although the warming trend will briefly slow down on Friday, temperatures will still be milder than earlier in the week, with highs returning to near-normal in the low to mid-70s on Thursday. By Friday, areas north of I-4 may not reach 70, while southern areas will still hit the low to mid-70s.

Weekend-Early Week

As the large ridge of high pressure continues to move out into the western Atlantic, temperatures will gradually warm up. Expect highs to be in the lower to mid-70s over the weekend, reaching the lower 80s by Tuesday.

Overnight lows will also rise, from the upper 40s and 50s over the weekend to the upper 50s and low 60s early next week.

It will remain mostly dry, but a mid-level trough could bring a few showers to the northern parts of the area on Tuesday.

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As of 2025, it may become harder to take videos of law enforcement in Florida, even if they’re breaking the law themselves.

A new law going into effect on Jan. 1 requires people to move back 25 feet if first responders, including law enforcement, verbally warn them to, while the responder is performing a legal duty. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis said this was in support of law enforcement officers and accused news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks.” 

Critics say it’s to prevent people from taking videos of law enforcement officers breaking the law or brutalizing people.

Here’s what to know.

What does SB 184, Impeding, Threatening, or Harassing First Responders, do?

SB 184 makes it illegal, after you have been verbally warned, to approach a first responder or remain within 25 feet while the responder is performing a legal duty with the intent to:

• Block or interfere with their ability to perform the duty
• Threaten the first responders with physical harm
• Harass the first responder

Violations will be a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.

What does SB 184 define as ‘harassment’?

“Harassment” is defined as an action directed at a first responder that “intentionally causes substantial emotional distress in that first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.”

“Emotional distress,” “legitimate purpose” and which parties may decide if they apply were left undefined.

Rep. Angela Nixon, D-Jacksonville, introduced an amendment to clarify that “harass” did not include “asking a first responder questions out of concern, for the health, safety and well-being, of the person that is being responded to” and to stress that a person may still impede a first responder if they are breaking the law or using “unnecessary harm or excessive force.” The amendment failed.

What does SB 184 define as ‘first responders’?

First responders are defined here as law enforcement officers, correctional probation officers, firefighters and emergency medical care providers.

Are you allowed to record or video police officers in Florida?

Yes. SB 184 does not prevent taking video or pictures of law enforcement in the course of their duties, but it does require you, if asked, to move 25 feet away, which can make shooting images or video much more difficult.

An amendment from Rep. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Ocoee, which would have defined “the peaceful audio or video recording, photographing, or eyewitness observing of a first responder” as a legitimate purpose, failed to pass.

So did Nixon’s other proposed amendment to change the name of the bill to “The I Don’t Want the World to See the Police Kill an Unarmed Innocent Man Like George Floyd Again, So I Want To Protect Bad Cops and Violate Free Speech Act.”

How did police videos cause the Black Lives Matter protest movement to go worldwide?

Davis’ amendment referred to the video shot of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a police officer in 2020.

The video, and many others shot by bystanders and witnesses, were widely shared online and contributed to the massive widespread Black Lives Matter protests that year by making more Americans aware of incidents of police brutality that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. 

Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old girl who videoed Floyd’s murder, was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.

Why was SB 184 necessary?

DeSantis said when he signed the bill that the legislation “recognizes we’ve got some strange currents going on in our society right now that really seek to delegitimize law enforcement,” accusing news media outlets of warping narratives about police for attention and “clicks” and citing media coverage of the controversial police killing of Dexter Reed in Chicago.

Officers fired 96 shots in 41 seconds at Reed during a traffic stop, reportedly over Reed not wearing a seatbelt. A citizen review board questioned both the validity of the stop and the order of events — they say it’s unclear who shot first — and questioned the appropriateness of deadly force in the response. Bodycam footage showed one officer emptying his pistol multiple times at Reed, even after Reed was motionless on the ground.

“You shouldn’t be in a situation where you’re at a traffic stop, you’re responding to a call of someone in distress, and then you have people come trying to interdict or trying to harass you from performing your duty,” DeSantis said. “We view that as a problem, and now you’re going to be held accountable.”

Critics questioned the bill, saying it would be open to First Amendment challenges and prevent recordings of police misconduct and brutality.