The governor will appoint a successor to Rubio in the upper chamber of Congress if he is confirmed to the Cabinet position by the Senate in the coming weeks, which appears likely. DeSantis has not publicly shared who he is considering for the appointment, but Politico reports that Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is the favorite candidate to be nominated to the seat.

Moody was first elected as the state’s top prosecutor in 2018 and handily won reelection in 2022. She has positioned herself as an ally to DeSantis and President-elect Donald Trump through her prosecutions in the Sunshine State. Moody is one of the people long rumored to be on DeSantis’s short list for the Senate appointment.

DeSantis has been quiet about who he will appoint to the Senate seat, telling reporters on Tuesday that he has not made up his mind.

“I’m not going to be refereeing any ‘who’s in, who’s out,’ but I will say that we’ve done a lot of research on candidates. I think that we’ve got a lot of great people in Florida who’ve made a big difference,” DeSantis said.

Whoever DeSantis appoints to the Senate seat will have to run in a special election in November 2026 for the remaining two years of the current term and a regularly scheduled election in November 2028 for a full six-year term to keep the seat.

The Senate opening comes as Florida, an increasingly Republican state, is expected to have a hotly contested gubernatorial election next year. Moody has been floated as a candidate for that race, but that would likely be out of consideration if she is appointed to the Senate seat.

Rubio’s first hearing as nominee for secretary of state is scheduled for next Wednesday at 10 a.m. before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The Florida senator is not expected to have a difficult confirmation process, as Senate GOP leaders have said they hope to have Trump’s Cabinet picks confirmed quickly.