U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Sharon Day, a former Republican National Committee co-chair from Fort Lauderdale, to be his ambassador to Costa Rica.
Day’s nomination is part of a list of ten nominees that Trump sent to the Senate on Thursday, the White House reported in a press release.
She served on the Executive Committee of the Broward County Republican Party starting in 1994, and in 1996 was elected as a state committee member. She recently stepped down from her role at the RNC, a position she held since 2011.
Day appeared at numerous Trump rallies in Florida and spoke at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. She told attendees that, “as proud Republicans,” they should “talk up and support the president wherever they went, including at grocery stores or church.”
The White House lauded Day’s political work in South Florida.
“She has served the Republican Party at the local, state, and national level for more than twenty years, with a focus on engaging and empowering women candidates and activists, as well as strengthening state parties and volunteerism,” the statement said.
The GOP’s website says Day was born in Texas, moved to Indiana, and then settled in Florida when she and her husband sold their business. She has two sons and five grandchildren.
If the Senate confirms Day’s appointment, she will replace Stafford Fitzgerald Haney as Costa Rican ambassador.
Haney, a New Jersey businessman, held the post since May 2015. He is widely considered to have been an effective ambassador during his time in office, contributing to several areas ranging from public infrastructure, public security and education, to immigration issues including the recent Cuban migrant crisis.
He ended his term as ambassador on January 20. The Trump administration, however, allowed him to remain in his post beyond that date, even though the administration required many other Barack Obama appointees to leave their posts on Inauguration Day.
Haney’s additional time in Costa Rica allowed his children to finish the school year.
