If something were to happen to make Gov. Rick Scott unable to fulfill his duties as governor before he can name a replacement for former Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who resigned this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi would become governor.
State law spells out the gubernatorial line of succession, and also doesn’t leave Scott the option of permanently leaving the office of lieutenant governor open, even though the job has no officially prescribed duties.
The law simply says that the if lieutenant governor’s office becomes vacant, the governor “shall” appoint a successor for the remainder of the term.
Scott said in a statement Wednesday that “we will not turn our attention to this topic (a new lieutenant governor) until after the conclusion of the legislative session,” which is in early May.
State law says that if there’s a vacancy in the office of governor and lieutenant governor, the attorney general shall become governor. If the attorney general’s office were to be vacant, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater would be next in line, followed by Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.
If somehow all of those offices were vacant, the Legislature would choose a new governor.
He is afraid to reduce Republican Senator numbers by appointing one as Lt. Gov. during the session. He is even more afraid of an open race going on during the session which would focus on and repudiate the Republican agenda.