Gov. Ron DeSantis intends to pick Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka as the next Lee County Supervisor of Elections.
During remarks in Fort Myers, DeSantis said she was the “leader in the clubhouse,” but timing of a Special Session to put a property tax amendment on November’s ballot will delay the selection.
“Maybe after that, that’ll be kind of the capstone to be able to do it. But I think she’s done a really good job, and I think she would get it,” DeSantis said.
“So we want to do it. We want to make that appointment as soon as we can, but I also want to make sure that we’ve got all guns blazing in the Legislature, and we want to have our best people in there.”
DeSantis has a history of rewarding legislative allies with appointments to vacant offices, including Secretary of State Cord Byrd, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and CFO Blaise Ingoglia. The former was in the House and the latter two were in the Senate. DeSantis also has picked a number of trusted staffers for key roles over the years.
In her sixth year in the Legislature, Persons-Mulicka has carved out a policy portfolio focused on election law, government accountability and state security, while also holding one of the House’s most influential budget posts as Chair of the PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee and serving on the House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting.
She also has a portfolio of election bills, including the House congressional redistricting measure passed this week. She fielded media questions about the measure after it was passed by the House.
Persons-Mulicka sponsored a sweeping election package (HB 991) aimed at tightening voter identification standards and expanding citizenship verification requirements. The proposal, which ultimately passed after the House agreed to a Senate rewrite, reflects a yearslong focus for Persons-Mulicka on election law.
Persons-Mulicka filed election packages in 2025 and 2026 meant to align closely with President Donald Trump priorities at the federal level. The final version of the 2026 bill requires additional documentation to verify citizenship and removes certain forms of identification, including student and retirement home IDs, from the list of acceptable voter ID at polling places.
Long-serving former supervisor of elections Tommy Doyle has retired from the role. Chief Deputy Bernie Feliciano is the acting Supervisor of Elections. She has been in the office since she was 19 years old.
The seat would be up for election in November, but DeSantis’ selection and endorsement would cinch the office for his legislative ally.
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Jesse Mendoza of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
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