Incoming Senate president Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has selected Sen. Anitere Flores to be Senate President Pro Tempore in the new lineup of the Florida Senate.
Negron made the announcement Thursday that he had hand-picked Flores to hold the position, which puts her as his right-hand woman in the Florida Legislature.
“The role of Senate President Pro Tempore is a significant position of trust and authority. Anitere is a loyal friend and trusted ally,” Negron said. “She also has longstanding relationships with many new and returning Senators. She has a proven ability to work in a bipartisan manner without compromising her own unwavering principles. I have complete confidence in her ability to represent the Senate in this important leadership position.”
Flores has been involved in the state legislature since 2004, when she began her first term in the Florida House of Representatives. She served three terms in the House and then ran for election in the Senate.
She was first elected to the Florida Senate in 2010 and recently won her reelection bid against Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in newly-redrawn Senate District 39.
Flores won the election taking 54 percent of the vote to Mucarsel-Powell’s nearly 46 percent.
Flores has made political history in the Sunshine State and became the first Republican Hispanic woman to serve in both the Florida House and the Florida Senate since 1986 when she was first elected to the Senate.
Negron’s announcement comes on the heels of incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran naming 11 legislators to his House Leadership team. Appointments included Reps. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, Jeanette Nunez, R-Miami, Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes. Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, will serve as House Majority Leader for the 2016-2018 term.
Despite newly-redrawn lines which threatened the political futures of many GOP politicians in the Sunshine State, Republicans will continue to hold the majority in both the Florida House and the Florida Senate. After this year’s election, many of them were lifted by GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and sailed to victory in what were predicted to be nail-biter, too-close-to-call elections.
Democrats, however, didn’t fare as well and remain the minority in both chambers.
Flores’ appointment is effective Nov. 22, the day the Legislature convenes for its annual organizational session. The President Pro Tempore is formally nominated and elected by the full Senate during the Organization Session.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
