Dec.23

electoral-vote.com

Dem 47

   

GOP 53

Lara Trump Drops Out

On Saturday, Lara Yunaska Trump, the wife of Donald Trump's second son, Eric, announced that she didn't want to be a senator from Florida. There is no shame in that. Millions of Americans don't want to be a senator from Florida, including most of the 11 million people who live in North Carolina, where she is from and went to school and college.

In her "abdication statement," Trump tweeted: "After an incredible amount of thought, contemplation, and encouragement from so many, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the United States Senate." English translation: "I didn't have the vote." Note use of the singular here, because only one person, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), gets to vote on whether she gets to be a senator. Why she was a "candidate" for the Senate in a state she has never lived in is not hard to fathom. When Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is confirmed to be secretary of state, there will be a Senate vacancy that DeSantis gets to fill for 2 years. Some Republicans, especially Donald Trump, would have loved to replace Rubio with a very compliant senator. And family members are the most compliant of all.

Now that Lara's "bid" is over. What happened? Here are some possible explanations.

1. She is telling the truth.
2. She likes the work, but the pay of $174,000 is insulting, so no.
3. Someone gave her a map and she suddenly realized that Florida is not part of North Carolina.
4. Trump didn't give DeSantis what he wanted in return for the favor.
5. DeSantis felt she would lose the special election in 2026.
6. DeSantis is planning to name himself to the seat.
7. DeSantis is planning to name a placeholder to the seat to keep it warm until he needs it.
8. DeSantis is tired of groveling at Trump's feet and decided stiffing him is worth whatever the cost may be.
9. DeSantis suddenly remembered what happened to Rod Blagojevich when he tried to sell a Senate seat.

If you believe one word of Lara Trump's explanation of why she is "dropping out," we have a large, but used, bridge in Brooklyn for you for the low, low price of only $100. She knew she wasn't going to get the nod, so by dropping out, she saves herself some embarrassment. Besides, Florida grows oranges, not grapes, which would be sour in that climate. We are most inclined to go with #4 or maybe #5. Trump is transactional. DeSantis is transactional. Both no doubt asked what they would get out of the deal. For Trump, getting a family member in the Senate would be huge, so DeSantis no doubt demanded a big payoff. One possible demand would be for Trump to tell Pete Hegseth that his Pentagon days were over, even before they began, and then nominate DeSantis. This would give DeSantis some foreign policy experience for his 2028 presidential run. On its face, his appointment would be plausible and he would be confirmed easily. He is very smart (Yale, Harvard Law School) and has military experience in the Navy, ending as a lieutenant commander (major in the Army). He also has experience running a large bureaucracy as governor of the third most populous state. We suspect the deal didn't happen because the Co-President-elect got cold feet and didn't want a loose cannon he couldn't control running the military. But maybe it was one of the other reasons. We'll probably never know.

So who will DeSantis appoint? Some people think it will be Florida AG Ashley Moody (R), so DeSantis can replace her with his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, who has AG ambitions. Moody has won statewide already, so she could probably hold the seat in 2026. (V)