TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he plans to promote one of his closest allies, James Usmayer, to become state attorney general.
Usmayer’s likely new role stems from a chain of political dominoes that began with President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state.
Mr. DeSantis announced on Thursday that he would nominate Attorney General Ashley Moody to take Mr. Rubio’s Senate seat and said he expected to select Mr. Usmayer to replace Moody.
“My chief of staff, James Usmayer, is similar to Ashley. He’s proven himself in these fights, and I think he has a big responsibility, but I think he’ll handle it well.” said DeSantis. “We’re not going to take reservations before they’re available, but I think that’s going to happen.”
If formally appointed, Usmayer will serve as attorney general until elections in 2026.
Usmayer said in a social media post that he was honored and humbled to be appointed by DeSantis.
“I’m excited to get to work, build on (Moody’s) great record, help enact (Trump’s) agenda, and protect the people, the Constitution, and the Florida way of life!” Usmeyer said in X. spoke.
Here’s what you need to know about him.
He managed DeSantis’ presidential campaign
DeSantis faced low poll numbers and economic hardship in an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. Therefore, in August 2023, Mr. Usmayer was appointed as the successor to the head of the campaign headquarters.
Usmayer took leave as DeSantis’ chief of staff to manage the campaign. When the campaign ended, he returned to his post in the governor’s office.
He has worked in DeSantis’ office since 2019.
Usmeyer joined the governor’s office in March 2019 and has been DeSantis’ chief of staff since October 2021.
According to LinkedIn, he began his career in the governor’s office as deputy general counsel and was promoted to general counsel in October 2020.
As part of his work as governor, Mr. Usmayer directed the judicial nomination process, according to his biography on the Federalist Society’s website.
In Florida, the Judicial Nominating Commission submits a small number of names to the governor, who has the final say on whom new judges are appointed.
In his current role, Mr. Usmayer earns $201,724.
He worked in Washington for the Trump administration.
Usmayer grew up in Florida, earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, and then left the state for Washington for a few years.
Usmayer graduated from Georgetown Law School in 2014 and worked as a law clerk for Rubio from December 2012 to January 2014, according to his LinkedIn.
He then worked as an associate at the large Washington-based law firm Jones Day before joining the Trump administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce.
There, he served as senior advisor and advisor to Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and played a key role in the effort to add a citizenship question to the 2020 U.S. Census.
He helped fight Florida’s marijuana law and abortion reform bill.
Ahead of the 2024 election, Mr. DeSantis led opposition to two constitutional amendments that would legalize recreational marijuana and protect access to abortion.
The governor used state power to counter citizen-led voting efforts, which Usmayer supported. Usmayer chaired two political committees that raised money to oppose the amendment.
In the end, both amendments failed to pass Florida’s 60% adoption requirement.
He was deeply involved in the Florida immigration flight.
In 2022, Mr. DeSantis led a state-funded operation to airlift about 50 Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. Some of the migrants have legal status as asylum seekers in the United States and said they were tricked into boarding chartered flights with false promises of jobs and other assistance.
The recruitment strategy employed by the DeSantis administration has led to criminal investigations and several lawsuits, including one brought by some immigrants who say they were deceived by the state.
Mr. DeSantis relied heavily on his inner circle, including Mr. Usmayer, behind the scenes. Usmayer worked closely with DeSantis’ former public safety czar, Larry Keefe, who traveled to Texas to oversee the program.
According to public records, Mr. Keefe texted Mr. Usmayer that the situation in Texas was “good” and that Mr. Usmayer told him that he had “full support” for Mr. Keefe.
Usmayer used his personal cell phone to plan the operation. Mr. DeSantis’ lawyers are trying to block Mr. Usmayer’s phone records, even though they are being used to conduct state business.
Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
