Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis is strongly urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to name his successor quickly. Patronis submitted a resignation in November to run for Congress in Florida’s 1st Congressional District, and Monday will be his last day.

“I wanted to ensure the transition is seamless,” Patronis wrote to DeSantis. “I take the functions of this office very seriously and believe a new CFO should be identified prior to my exit, and sworn in no later than the evening of April 2, 2025.”

Patronis noted that Florida law required he resign his seat to seek another office. That resignation is irrevocable, and while the Panama City Republican heads into an April 1 Special Election a favorite based on voter registration numbers, he must leave his office after Monday either way.

Patronis has publicly endorsed Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who already filed to run for Chief Financial Officer in 2026, to immediately take over the role. But Patronis’ letter makes no mention of his preference and stressed that the decision on who to appoint to the Cabinet post rests with DeSantis.

But Patronis also said he wants to help with a transition.

“While the decision on who runs the Department of Financial Services lies exclusively with you, it is my honest belief that it is in the interest of the agency, and the people of Florida, to announce the appointment prior to my exit to allow for a certain level of overlap,” Patronis wrote.

Patronis also noted that he will leave his current office halfway through the Legislative Session. That makes it all the more important that a new CFO be in place to meet with lawmakers to handle agency priorities regarding the state budget and insurance issues.

“This agency is very important and is not to be overlooked as something that could function on autopilot,” Patronis wrote. “We are providing oversight and making decisions every day to help people, and a strong leader who is fully apprised of DFS’s role in Florida is critical to ensuring nothing breaks and that the trains continue to run on time.”

Patronis also recalled that he was originally appointed to the CFO post by former Gov. Rick Scott, replacing former CFO Jeff Atwater when he resigned to become President of Florida Atlantic University. Atwater aided Patronis through a transition, and Patronis would like to do the same with his successor.

“I will be forever grateful to CFO Atwater for how he handled transition, and helped me as I entered a new space,” Patronis wrote. “In the coming days, someone will be in the same position, and I want to make sure that my team is doing right by whomever you decide to place in this role.”

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Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera faced a fairly friendly audience as he spoke to Senators at his confirmation hearing to become U.S. Ambassador to Panama.

During the hearing, Cabrera fielded questions from both sides of the political aisle on how he views his potential role. Things never grew heated and featured only one potentially contentious exchange. Otherwise, the discussion centered solely on policy, particularly how Cabrera planned to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda for the Central American nation, its pivotal canal, foreign influence on trade, immigration and drug trafficking.

Asked about Trump’s calls for the U.S. to reclaim control of the Panama Canal for national security purposes, Cabrera said his job would be to “serve at the pleasure of the President” and reiterated Trump’s assertion that “all the options are on the table.”

“Part of ‘all the options’ includes diplomacy,” he said, adding, “President Trump is our Commander in Chief, and I stand behind him and his policies.”

Cabrera, a government relations specialist who led Trump’s 2020 campaign in Florida and was elected last year as a Republican State Committeeman, emphasized his nonpartisan work on the 13-member Miami-Dade Commission, where he has served for the past two and a half years.

He said cross-aisle support he enjoyed in his ambassadorial candidacy from Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Commission Vice Chair Kionne McGhee, both Democrats, and others from all political stripes.

He stressed that as an Ambassador, he would endeavor to fulfill Trump’s foreign policy mandate to make the U.S. “stronger, safer and more prosperous” while doing his best to maintain the Panama Canal’s neutrality.

But there are concerns. The Chinese Communist Party has exercised increased influence on the region and Panama, which Cabrera noted was both the first Central American country to enter and leave China’s massive Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.

China’s tendrils are likely still embedded there, Cabrera said.

“You’ve seen it in cities like Colón, with the cybersecurity grants (China gave) for cameras in the area. You don’t know where that cloud information might be stored, who has access to it, and some of the reports were they have cranes that have been given to them by the Chinese government as well,” he said.

“As a County Commission, we have seen where many times (foreign entities, working through a local business proxy, will) underbid these sorts of things to get their cranes in there by a significant (discount). A lot of these companies are partially government (owned).”

One way the U.S. can counteract China’s influence, he argued, is through economic diplomacy.

“When (American companies) compete, they win, because we have a better product,” he said. He added that China’s sponsorship of Confucius Institutes at all five public universities in Panama and its relationship with government-run TV stations, which “never criticize China,” still pose challenges.

Cabrera said that a lot of work remains to be done to crack down on trafficking and illegal migration, but much has already been accomplished under Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the past 60 days, including a 95% drop in crossings through the Darién Gap, a 60-mile roadless stretch or rainforest on the Colombia-Panama border.

That’s a big deal, he said.

“This is an area where two years ago, you had over 500,000 folks crossing, “he said. “Stopping migration … helps us at the southern border and helps America to make sure these drugs aren’t infiltrating.”

For the most part, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s hardest questions were reserved for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick for Israel Ambassador, and his efforts to distance himself from his past rhetoric on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Huckabee and Cabrera fielded questions Tuesday alongside Reed Rubenstein, who served as Deputy Associate Attorney General during Trump’s first administration and is pending confirmation as a Department of State legal adviser now.

Early into the hearing, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who was Hillary Clinton’s running mate against Trump in 2016, asked about a 2018 incident in which Cabrera, then working as a lobbyist, was caught on video protesting alongside members of the far-right Proud Boys group outside the office of former U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala.

Cabrera has repeatedly maintained that he was exercising his First Amendment rights and denounced the Proud Boys and “any group that espouses any sort of hate.” He repeated that statement, verbatim, when Kaine asked him to condemn the Proud Boys.

“I believe there is no place for (hate), and we have to work together, and I think it would make for a better world,” he said.

Kaine thanked him for being clear on the matter.

Trump tapped Cabrera, who serves as Vice Chair of the Miami-Dade International Trade Consortium, to be his Panama point person in late December, writing on Truth Social that Panama was “ripping (the United States) off on the Panama Canal, far beyond their wildest dreams.”

“Kevin is a fierce fighter for America First principles,” Trump wrote. “Few understand Latin American politics as well as Kevin — he will do a FANTASTIC job representing our Nation’s interests in Panama!”

A vote on his confirmation will occur at a to-be-determined date.

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Members of Senate Republican leadership are signaling who they want to succeed Sen. Tom Wright next year.

The Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee (FRSCC) is endorsing Volusia County Council member Jake Johansson, with a joint statement backing the military veteran from Senate President Ben Albritton, Senate Majority Leader Jim Boyd and Sen. Jay Trumbull.

“Jake Johansson has dedicated his entire adult life to selflessly serving our nation and his community,” the statement reads.

“As we continue to make Florida a model for other states, we need leaders in the Senate who will put families first and stand strong in the belief that government is at its best when hard working Floridians are free to achieve their American Dream. We are proud to endorse Retired Navy Captain Jake Johansson for District 8 and look forward to welcoming his important voice and proven problem solving to the Florida Senate.”

Boyd, a Bradenton Republican, is expected to take over as Senate President after the 2026 elections, presuming Republicans retain control of the chamber. Trumbull, a Panama City Republican, is in line to lead the Senate the following legislative term, after the 2028 election.

Johansson, a Port Orange Republican, announced in December that he would run in Senate District 8. Wright won election there in 2018.

Wright, who cannot seek another term because of term limits, also endorsed Johansson earlier this week.

Regarding Republican Primaries for open Senate seats, the FRSCC has traditionally held outsized influence in selecting nominees.

Three other Republicans have already filed for the seat. That includes former Rep. Elizabeth Fetterhoff, who narrowly lost an incumbent-on-incumbent House race in 2022 following redistricting.

Additionally, Edgewater Republican Heather Bendl and Realtor Jason Voelz have also filed for the seat.

The seat leans heavily Republican. Wright in 2022 won re-election with 63% of the vote over Democrat Andrea Williams.

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