Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, right, with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Jason A. Reding Quinones, left. Uthmeier spoke during a press conference on Feb. 19, 2026, in Miami.
Carl Juste
cjuste@miamiherald.com
I was an adjunct professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University, a private Christian university in West Palm Beach. Like Attorney General James Uthmeier, I taught two classes — but I wasn’t paid six figures.
There’s been a lot of attention on Uthmeier’s recently reported $100,000 salary to teach two courses at the University of Florida’s law school as an adjunct professor. And while his salary is excessive — it’s roughly eight times the average amount of an adjunct’s pay nationally — the more interesting part to me is why he said he needs the second job.
He said he needed the money. He took a pay cut of between $60,000 and $70,000 when he left his job as Gov. Ron DeSantis chief of staff to accept an appointment from the governor to become the state’s attorney general.
As attorney general, Uthmeier was making a mere $140,000 annually. According to him, that wasn’t enough.
On a podcast called Between the Lines with Dara Kam, Uthmeier explained why he needed a second job, “When you have a growing family and three kids, you got to look for other ways to keep the lights on and keep food on the table.”
Is one of the top Republican leaders in the state actually talking about affordability? That’s what it sounds like — except President Donald Trump has dismissed those concerns: “The word affordability is a Democrat scam.” If that’s true, then someone should tell Uthmeier.
Uthmeier’s version of an affordability problem isn’t most people’s, of course: Even without the UF side gig, he was in a prestigious job with a six-figure salary. Most people aren’t going to offer him much sympathy.
But his comments bring up an important topic. The affordability problem is real, especially in Miami and South Florida. Housing costs continue to leave many Floridians cost-burdened. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, a household with two working adults and three children in Miami-Dade County must earn $115,498 after taxes to afford basic needs.
My frustration isn’t about Uthmeier teaching law students. Teaching is a noble calling. The problem is the disconnect. Average Floridians who need extra income don’t have access to a $100,000 part-time job. They work weekends, drive for Uber or pick up other gig-economy work which pay a fraction of that amount. They cut back on spending. They delay homeownership. They consider moving out of state.
If a statewide elected official earning a six-figure salary feels squeezed enough to seek out a second job, then affordability is not a partisan talking point. It’s a governing challenge.
It’s not necessarily wrong for Uthmeier to hold outside employment while serving in the Florida Cabinet. As the Herald reported, state employees under Florida law are allowed to have two public positions enabling them to collect salaries from different entities. That’s not controversial.
But Uthmeier’s comments revealed what many Republicans have refused to talk about publicly: affordability is affecting Floridians at all income levels. Calling affordability a hoax doesn’t make it disappear. It only makes the GOP look out of touch with the very voters they need to show up in November.
With eight months until the midterm elections, the GOP has a choice. Republicans can continue to dismiss the cost of living crisis, or they can acknowledge what the attorney general has already admitted publicly: it’s expensive to live in the free state of Florida. Saying that out loud isn’t a concession to Democrats — it’s the first step toward finding a solution and governing.
At the very least, Uthmeier was honest about the problem, even if his solution was only available to him. It’s time for the Republican Party to be honest, too, and work to solve the problem instead of pretending it doesn’t exist.
Mary Anna Mancuso is a member of the Miami Herald Editorial Board. Her email: mmancuso@miamiherald.com
This story was originally published February 21, 2026 at 11:00 AM.