MIAMI — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday he appointed two new members to the Florida Supreme Court during a news conference in Miami at the Miami-Dade Public Library.
The governor tapped Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Renatha Francis and Miami attorney John Couriel.
Francis, born in Jamaica, will be the first Caribbean-American to sit on the Florida Supreme Court. She moved to Florida after running two businesses in Jamaica.
Couriel is the son of Cuban exiles, Harvard graduate and private litigator.
Sixteen months ago, DeSantis appointed two other South Florida judges to the Florida Supreme Court, Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa, but they were promoted to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Trump.
DeSantis said the appointments were delayed by the coronavirus.
DeSantis Receptive To Florida Holding RNC, DNC
The governor spoke briefly about President Trump threatening to move the Republican National Convention from Charlotte if North Carolina does not allow full capacity attendance.
“Florida would love to have the RNC. Heck, I’m a Republican, it would be good for us to have the DNC in terms of the economic impact,” said DeSantis.
Georgia's governor has also offered his state as an alternative host to the GOP convention.
DeSantis said he hasn't spoken to Trump about Florida hosting the RNC, but said he let White House officials know the state wants to "work with them."
"If you're a business, if you're a sports team, if you have some of these events. We want to work with you," DeSantis said.
The governor mentioned some of the cities that could hold the RNC or DNC included Miami, Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville.
Regarding the coronavirus, the governor said cases are still on a downward trend and the testing capacity the state has exceeds the demand.
"We haven't be able to test as many people as we thought would want to get tested. We're not going to force you to go through a drive-thru site," said DeSantis.