Jeanette Nuñez

Jeanette Marie Nuñez (née Sánchez; born June 6, 1972) is an American businesswoman, healthcare administrator, and politician who served from 2019 to 2025 as the 20th lieutenant governor of Florida. A member of the Republican Party, she represented Miami-Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018, also serving as speaker pro tempore for her last two years in the office. Nuñez was the first Hispanic American woman to serve as Florida's lieutenant governor.

On February 16, 2025, Nuñez resigned as lieutenant governor to become interim president of Florida International University.

Early life and education

Nuñez was born in Miami to Cuban parents Victor C. and Teresa Sánchez as one of their three daughters. In 1994, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations from Florida International University (FIU). In 1998, Nuñez completed her Master of Public Administration at FIU.

Career

Nuñez's first job after completing her undergraduate studies was as an aide to state senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Nuñez later entered the health care industry, as vice president of government affairs at Jackson Health System. She also worked as an adjunct professor and advisor at Florida International University and served as vice president of external affairs at Kendall Regional Medical Center and Aventura Hospital & Medical Center before becoming lieutenant governor of Florida.

Florida House of Representatives

When incumbent state representative David Rivera could not seek reelection in 2010 due to term limits, Nuñez ran to succeed him in the 112th district, which included parts of Broward, Collier, and Miami-Dade Counties, stretching from Doral to Naples. She faced Juan D'Arce and James Patrick Guerrero in the Republican primary, and promised to pass legislation to "improve the economy" and "reform the Medicaid program in order to contain the ever-growing costs that affect taxpayers." Nuñez won the primary, receiving 66% of the vote to D'Arce's 19% and Guerrero's 15%.

In the general election, she faced Democratic nominee Sandra Ruiz, a Doral City councilwoman, and Robert Van Name, an independent candidate. Nuñez campaigned on job creation, saying, "For me, the most important issue for District 112 and in fact for the entire state of Florida is creating jobs, improving the economy and lowering the tax burden for businesses and property owners." The ''Naples Daily News'' wrote, "If there is a textbook reason for redistricting reform, this race...would be it" and opined that "there is little sense of Collier connection from either Miami-based candidate", but endorsed Nuñez because she met with the editorial board and Ruiz did not, which it called "a dreadful measuring stick for picking such a high-ranking public servant". Nuñez won the election with 56% of the vote to Ruiz's 39% and Van Name's 5%.

When the state's legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Nuñez was drawn into the 119th district, where she opted to seek reelection. She was challenged in the Republican primary by Libby Perez, but won renomination with 73% of the vote. In the general election, Nuñez only faced write-in opposition and won easily.

During the 2014 legislative session, Nuñez worked with state senator Jack Latvala to sponsor legislation that "would allow the children of undocumented immigrants to pay the same in-state tuition rates for college as other Floridians," which was passed by the legislature.

As reported by '' The Hill'' in 2018, Nuñez introduced legislation in Florida "to standardize daylight saving time for the entire calendar year". To make the "Sunshine Protection Act" nationwide, Senator Marco Rubio sponsored a bill in the Senate, because the state bill could not take effect until the federal government made the change. That was because the "provision would shift the state into a different time zone permanently", something which requires a federal regulatory action or an act of Congress.

Lieutenant governor of Florida

Selection

On September 5, 2018, Representative Ron DeSantis selected Nuñez to be his running mate in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, facing off against Andrew Gillum and his running mate Chris King. DeSantis and Nuñez would go on to win the election by a margin of less than half of a percentage point. Nuñez is the first Latina woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Florida.

In 2022 DeSantis and Nuñez were reelected with 59.4% of the vote, representing a more than 1.6 million vote margin over Charlie Crist. It was the largest margin of any Republican ever elected governor of Florida and included wins in Miami-Dade for a Republican gubernatorial candidate the first time since 2002, as well as other counties that had similarly voted for Democrats even longer.

Tenure

Nuñez was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January 8, 2019, succeeding Carlos Lopez-Cantera. During her time in office, she hosted various roundtables and events in support of exiles from Venezuela.

In February 2025, Nuñez resigned as lieutenant governor to be appointed as interim president of Florida International University.

Political positions

Immigration

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried criticized Nuñez in 2022 for saying: "Although states do not have jurisdiction over immigration, it has jurisdiction over the well-being of our residents. Entering the country illegally and fleeing a dictatorship to seek asylum are two different things, and misrepresenting that is offensive." Of Cuban refugees, Nuñez added, "The governor isn't going to stand there with his arms crossed. He's thinking what he's going to do. He's going to send them, frankly, to the state of Delaware, the president’s state".

Personal life

Jeanette Nuñez married Adrian Nuñez in 1997. They have three children. Nuñez is Roman Catholic. In 2024, Nuñez gave the commencment address to the graduating class at Pensacola Christian College.

See also

* List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

References

External links

Florida House of Representatives - Jeanette Núñez
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nunez, Jeanette
1972 births
Living people
21st-century American women academics
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century members of the Florida Legislature
American politicians of Cuban descent
American women academic administrators
Catholic politicians from Florida
Florida International University alumni
Florida International University faculty
Florida Republicans
Hispanic and Latino American academics
Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Florida
Hispanic and Latino American women educators
Hispanic and Latino American women in politics
Latino conservatism in the United States
Lieutenant governors of Florida
Politicians from Miami
Presidents of Florida International University
Republican Party members of the Florida House of Representatives
Women heads of universities and colleges
Women state legislators in Florida