BRADENTON, Fla. - After being sued for not appointing a new lieutenant governor for nearly 10 months, Florida Gov. Rick Scott tapped Carlos Lopez-Cantera for the position Tuesday.
Lopez-Cantera, 40, is the property appraiser for Miami-Dade County. He is a licensed Realtor and owns a small business.
He replaces Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, who resigned on March 12, 2013 amid an investigation into alleged illegal Internet café gambling in which she was never charged.
On Feb. 3, Lopez-Cantera officially takes office as the Sunshine State's first Hispanic lieutenant governor, a position that has been considered largely ceremonial. He told the Miami Herald, however, that he accepted the job after being reassured that he would participate in policy matters.
"I look forward to leveraging my experience with small businesses and government tax reform to help further Gov. Scott's mission of economic growth and job creation," said Lopez-Cantera, who also served in the Florida House from 2004 to 2012 where he chaired the Committee on Business Regulation and the Government Affairs Committee.
Born in Spain and raised in Florida, Lopez-Cantera is bilingual and has indicated in interviews that he expects to help Scott's reelection campaign on the Republican gubernatorial ticket this year by addressing Hispanics, the state's largest-growing voting segment.
Lopez-Cantera graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in business administration.
On Dec. 6, lobbyist and former social studies teacher Barbara DeVane asked the Florida Supreme Court to issue a writ of mandamus compelling Scott to comply with the law and appoint a lieutenant governor in 30 days.
DeVane's complaint said the governor's refusal to follow the law upsets the order of succession for the state's top two elected positions established in statute should the governor become unable to serve.
Shortly after Carroll resigned in March 2013, Scott said he recognized that Florida law provided for the position but that he would not consider a replacement until after the 2013 legislative session.
Last week, after DeVane's suit was filed, a spokeswoman said Scott was taking his time to find the right person.
"I am confident that we took the right amount of time to find the right person to serve as Florida's lieutenant governor," Scott aid in a news release after announcing the appointment via Twitter on Monday,
"Carlos Lopez-Cantera will be a major part of our agenda to build an opportunity economy in Florida," Scott said, adding, that "he is focused on how we can transform our economy so we aren't just creating jobs, we are creating careers and opportunities that will be here for our children and our children's children."
