| Office: | 20th Lieutenant Governor of Florida |
| Governor: | Ron DeSantis |
| Term Start: | January 8, 2019 |
| Predecessor: | Carlos Lopez-Cantera |
| Office1: | Speaker pro tempore of the Florida House of Representatives |
| Term Start1: | November 22, 2016 |
| Term End1: | November 20, 2018 |
| Predecessor1: | Matt Hudson |
| Successor1: | MaryLynn Magar |
| Office2: | Member of the Florida House of Representatives |
| Term Start2: | November 2, 2010 |
| Term End2: | November 6, 2018 |
| Predecessor2: | David Rivera |
| Successor2: | Juan Fernandez-Barquin |
| Birth Name: | Jeanette Marie Sanchez |
| Birth Date: | 6 June 1972 |
| Birth Place: | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Party: | Republican |
| Children: | 3 |
| Education: | Florida International University (BA, MPA) |
Jeanette Marie Nuñez (née Sánchez; born June 6, 1972) is an American businesswoman and politician serving as the 20th lieutenant governor of Florida since 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she represented Miami-Dade County in the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018, also serving as speaker pro tempore for her final two years in the office. Nuñez is the first Latina to serve as Florida lieutenant governor.
Nuñez was born in Miami to a Cuban father, Victor C. Sánchez, and Teresita Sánchez. She is one of three daughters.[1] [2] In 1994, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and international relations from Florida International University (FIU). In 1998, Nuñez completed her Master of Public Administration at FIU.[3]
Her first job after completing her undergraduate studies was as an aide to state senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla. Nuñez later entered the health care industry, working as the vice-president of government affairs at Jackson Health System. Nuñez also worked for Florida International University as an adjunct professor and advisor. She also served as the vice-president of external affairs at Kendall Regional Medical Center and Aventura Hospital & Medical Center, until becoming the lieutenant governor of Florida.
When incumbent state representative David Rivera was unable to seek re-election in 2010 due to term limits, Nuñez ran to succeed him in the 112th district, which included parts of Broward, Collier, and Miami-Dade counties, stretching from Doral to Naples. In the Republican primary, she faced Juan D'Arce and James Patrick Guerrero, and campaigned on working to pass legislation to "improve the economy" and to "reform the Medicaid program in order to contain the ever-growing costs that affect taxpayers."[4] Ultimately, Nuñez won the primary over her opponents, receiving 66% of the vote to D'Arce's 19% and Guerrero's 15%. Advancing to the general election, she faced Sandra Ruiz, the Democratic nominee and a Doral City councilwoman, and Robert Van Name, an independent candidate. Nuñez campaigned on job creation, noting, "For me, the most important issue for District 112 and in fact for the entire state of Florida is creating jobs, improving the economy and lowering the tax burden for businesses and property owners."[5] The Naples Daily News criticized the nature of the district, noting, "If there is a textbook reason for redistricting reform, this race...would be it," and opined that "there is little sense of Collier connection from either Miami-based candidate." Despite this, they endorsed Nuñez over Ruiz because Nuñez met with the editorial board and Ruiz did not, which they noted was "a dreadful measuring stick for picking such a high-ranking public servant."[6] Ultimately, Nuñez won out over her opponents by a comfortable margin, scoring 56% of the vote to Ruiz's 39% and Van Name's 5%.
When the state's legislative districts were redrawn in 2012, Nuñez was drawn into the 119th district, where she opted to seek re-election. She was challenged in the Republican primary by Libby Perez, but easily won renomination with 73% of the vote. Nuñez only faced write-in opposition in the general election and easily won re-election.
During the 2014 legislative session, Nuñez worked with state senator Jack Latvala to sponsor legislation that "would allow the children of undocumented immigrants to pay the same in-state tuition rates for college as other Floridians,"[7] which ended up passing the legislature.
As reported by The Hill in 2018, Nuñez introduced legislation in Florida "to standardize daylight saving time for the entire calendar year". To make the "Sunshine Protection Act" nationwide, Senator Marco Rubio sponsored a bill in the Senate since the state bill cannot take effect until the federal government makes the change. This is because the "provision would shift the state into a different time zone permanently", something which requires a federal regulatory action or an act of Congress.[8]
On September 5, 2018, Representative Ron DeSantis selected Nuñez to be his running mate in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial election, facing off against Andrew Gillum and his running mate Chris King.[9] DeSantis and Nuñez would go on to win the election by a margin of less than half of a percentage point.[10] Nuñez is the first Latina woman to serve as lieutenant governor of Florida.[11]
In 2022 DeSantis and Nuñez were reelected with 59.4% of the vote, representing a more than 1.6 million vote margin over Charlie Crist. It was the largest margin of any Republican ever elected governor of Florida and included wins in Miami-Dade for a Republican gubernatorial candidate the first time since 2002, as well as other counties that had similarly voted for Democrats even longer.
Nuñez was sworn in as lieutenant governor on January 8, 2019, succeeding fellow Republican Carlos Lopez-Cantera.[12] During her time in office, she has hosted various roundtables and events in support of exiles from Venezuela.[13] [14]
Nuñez received scrutiny when she commented "Although states do not have jurisdiction over the well-being of our residents. Entering the country illegally and fleeing a dictatorship to seek asylum are two different things, and misrepresenting that is offensive." This comment was on the matter of Cuban refugees.[15] [16]
Jeanette Nuñez married Adrian Nuñez in 1997. They have three children.[17] Nuñez is Roman Catholic.[18]
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