Ron DeSantis picks his second in command. What to know about Jay Collins

Gov. Ron DeSantis has named his new second-in-command: Tampa Republican Sen. Jay Collins.

DeSantis on Tuesday appointed Collins as his lieutenant governor, a largely ceremonial position that has been vacant since February, when former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Núñez left the post to become president of Florida International University.

Collins, a former Green Beret, hasn’t ruled out running for governor in 2026. His appointment could indicate that DeSantis, who is term-limited, may support the Tampa senator as his successor.

At a news conference Tuesday at the Tampa Green Beret Association Team House, DeSantis said he was looking for someone “that is capable of serving and leading as governor if that need were to ever arise.”

DeSantis and Collins did not take questions at the news conference.

“I want you to know that as your lieutenant governor, I have your back,” Collins said. “I will fight to defend each and every one of you, whether you were going to vote for me or not.”

The lieutenant governor is second in line if the governor steps down or can’t complete their term, but has few statutorily designated duties beyond that. The lieutenant governor makes around $135,000 annually.

Collins has long been a close ally of DeSantis and was elected to the Senate in large part due to DeSantis’ endorsement.

His appointment means there will be three vacant seats in the Senate. To fill Collins’ seat, DeSantis would have to call for a special election.

Here’s what to know about Collins.

DeSantis was his early supporter

Collins was born in Montana, where he grew up in poverty. His dad died while he was in high school, and he has said he at times lived in his car or crashed on couches. He was adopted by his grandparents.

Collins enlisted in the U.S. Army and joined the Special Forces. He received a Purple Heart for his service.

He moved to Florida with his wife, also a veteran, in 2019 after their military service to raise their two sons. After initially living in Pasco County, Collins and his family moved to Tampa.

In 2021, Collins launched a campaign for U.S. Congress, challenging Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor in a heavily Democratic district.

About a year after jumping into that race, Collins switched to run in the more Republican-friendly 15th District. A month later, Collins switched races again to run, with DeSantis’ endorsement, for the Tampa-area state Senate seat he now holds.

DeSantis endorsed Collins even though the state’s Republican Senate leadership had already spent tens of thousands of dollars in support of another Republican candidate. The Senate leadership-backed candidate, former Rep. Shawn Harrison, then withdrew from the race.

Collins has proven loyal to DeSantis.

After DeSantis earlier this year called for an immigration special session that legislative leadership opposed, Collins ran one of the governor’s bills and opposed a plan unveiled by Senate and House Republican leaders.

DeSantis has also endorsed Collins’ wife, Layla Collins, who last year ran unsuccessfully for a Hillsborough County school board seat. DeSantis recently appointed Layla Collins to the Florida State Board of Education.

Working with the state

In addition to being a state senator, Collins works as chief operating officer for Operation BBQ Relief, which has received more than $13 million from the DeSantis administration to provide meals to people affected by hurricanes.

In that job, he makes about $212,000 a year, per his latest financial disclosure.

Collins has also assisted the state in its mission to evacuate stranded Americans caught in the fray of the Iran-Israel conflict. And in 2023, when Florida chartered similar flights to evacuate people out of Israel following the deadly October Hamas attack, Collins helped connect the state with a group putting together rescues.

In June, the Florida Division of Emergency Management worked with Grey Bull Rescue, which Collins had been assisting from the Middle East, to fly people out of the region.

Before launching a political career, Collins was a Green Beret and medic. During his 2007 deployment to Afghanistan, he sustained injuries that led to his leg being amputated. He spent more than 20 years in the U.S. military.

DeSantis has previously said Collins is “like an action figure.”

Bills he’s sponsored

In the Senate, Collins has been a prolific bill filer.

This last session, he sponsored more than 60 pieces of legislation, most of which did not pass. This year, the average senator filed about 25 bills.

He’s not shied away from sponsoring some controversial issues, including a proposal this year that would let some teenagers work overnight shifts and work longer hours without a meal break.

That bill failed. Records show that DeSantis’ office pushed for the change.

Collins defended his bill against critics, saying that it was a parent’s right to decide when and how their kid worked.

He also said working would help teenagers develop important skills and pointed to his own childhood as a reason why kids may need to work.

Support for gun legislation

In 2023, Collins sponsored legislation that allows people to carry a concealed weapon with no permit and no training.

The bill, which passed, was a DeSantis priority. But DeSantis and Collins were criticized from the right for not changing the law to allow Floridians to openly carry guns in public.

Collins’ support for gun legislation goes beyond what some of his fellow Republican members of the Florida Senate have accepted.

This past session, he filed a bill to lower Florida’s long gun purchase age back to 18. The purchase age was raised to 21 after the 2018 massacre at a Parkland high school.

Collins’ bill never got a hearing in the Senate, despite the House passing its version of the legislation. DeSantis has advocated for overturning the age restriction, along with other parts of the 2018 post-Parkland bill that lawmakers and former Gov. Rick Scott approved.

This story was originally published August 12, 2025 at 9:00 AM.