A Trump-Rubio ticket might force one of them to change residency status to another state

A Donald Trump-Marco Rubio 2024 ticket would pass a constitutional test, but one of the two would have to change their residency to another state.

The topic has picked up steam over the past week as Florida's senior senator, Rubio, is said to be on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Trump's list for vice president. Rubio said last week he has not spoken to anyone on Team Trump about the possibility but that "anybody who would be offered that should be honored."

Rubio is not the only Floridian to have drawn VP speculation. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was talked up as a potential before the governor decided to challenge Trump for the nomination and the once-tight alliance between the two withered during what was a short but vitriolic primary contest.

But as with DeSantis, there is the matter of the U.S. Constitution and the 12th Amendment.

Here is what we know:

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12th Amendment sort of bans presidential and VP candidates from same state

The 12th amendment, among the first post-Bill of Rights add-ons, was ratified during Thomas Jefferson's first term as president in 1804.

Titled “Electing the President and Vice President,” it stipulates that of the presidential and vice presidential candidates on the same ticket "one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves."

Kevin Wagner, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, said the amendment doesn't exactly bar candidates from the same state from being on the same ticket. But there is a very significant "limitation" — they essentially would forfeit the electoral votes from that state. Florida may not be a swing state anymore, but it's a major electoral vote prize with 30 crucial ballots.

The Bush-Cheney ticket in 2000 could have been problematic …

The last time the 220-year-old amendment was applied was during the presidential election of 2000.

Texas Gov. George W. Bush, the GOP presumptive nominee at the time, wanted fellow Texan Richard "Dick" Cheney to be his vice presidential candidate. But Cheney, who was chairman and CEO of the Halliburton conglomerate, was also a fellow Lone Star resident.

However, Cheney also owned property in Wyoming and boasted significant ties to the state. Prior to the Halliburton gig, Cheney was a member of the U.S. House from Wyoming, serving five terms from 1979 to 1989.

All of that gave Cheney a legitimate reason to quickly change his residency status from Texas to Wyoming before that year's presidential election. The Bush-Cheney ticket won the election, which dragged on for a month as officials counted ballots (with some hanging, some dangling chads) that ultimately gave Republicans a 537-vote margin. The duo was re-elected in 2004. Manual recounts were done in Palm Beach, Miami-Dade, Broward and Volusia counties.

Trump-Rubio workaround the 12th amendment could have Trump become New York resident — again

Trump, of course, could follow a similar course and change his residency back to New York. He officially listed Florida as his main residence in 2019.

But New York also is where his company was found guilty of fraud last year and Trump has been seething about having to pay a bond as he appeals a $454 million penalty. And where he will go to trial on April 15 to face criminal charges in a case related to hush money payments to a porn star. And where a jury found him liable of sexually assaulting and defaming journalist E. Jean Carroll, and he has had to pony up a $91.6 million bond as he appeals that decision.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has had unkind things to say about officials in his ex-home state, as well as the status of things in New York overall. After the verdict in the sexual assault case, Trump called New York "the worst place in the U.S. for me to get a 'fair trial.'"

On Monday, Trump attended a hearing on the payments case in Manhattan and again spoke out critically about what he said is happening in New York.

"Our state, this state, is losing tremendous prestige, it's losing its companies, it's losing its people," he said.

Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump-Rubio 2024 ticket would have to address Constitution's 12th amendment