Jay Collins is running for Florida governor. Who is he?

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who rose from political obscurity to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ right-hand man last year, wants a shot at the top job.

He announced Monday afternoon that he’s running for governor this year.

The announcement puts the relatively unknown Collins squarely into the middle of a national power struggle over the future of the Republican Party. President Donald Trump, the Republican standard-bearer, has already endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds in the race.

“I’m running for Governor because leadership is forged under pressure, not in soundbites,” Collins wrote in his announcement on X. “I served over 23 years in the United States military, mainly as a Green Beret, where accountability is real, decisions have consequences, and service comes before self. That experience shaped how I lead and why I believe public office is a public trust.”

Donalds’ campaign emphasized his early endorsement from Trump in response to Collins’ entry into the race.

“Anyone running against Byron is an anti-Trump RINO and will be soundly defeated in the Republican primary,” said Ryan Smith, chief strategist for Donalds’ campaign.

The run by Collins ends months of speculation, but it doesn’t resolve the question about whether he was DeSantis’ choice for successor. After DeSantis chose him as lieutenant governor in August, he dubbed Collins the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics” and touted him heavily at news conferences.

But in recent weeks, the governor’s enthusiasm for Collins has appeared cool. At a news conference in Broward County on Monday, DeSantis declined to say whether he would endorse Collins, but called him “a good guy” who “served this country admirably as a Green Beret.”

“If I get involved in the primary, you’ll know it. It’ll be at a time and place of my choosing, so we’ll see,” DeSantis said.

Hours later, Collins held a hastily called news conference in the Capitol.

“I’m glad he called me a good guy. It was nice, and you know, it leads to why we’re here today,” Collins said. “I just want to rip the Band-Aid off.”

He said he told DeSantis ahead of time that he was running to succeed him.

“I didn’t expect any endorsement coming in here,” Collins said.

Collins’ run against Donalds in some ways mirrors DeSantis’ 2024 bid against Trump. When the governor sought the GOP nomination for president against Trump, he established himself as a national brand and raised tens of millions of dollars.

As he takes on Trump world, Collins is no DeSantis. He does not cut even a statewide profile. To change that, he’s going to need to raise lots of money.

Collins’ current tally? Just more than $900,000 in his political committee, Quiet Professionals FL.

Collins will have to amass more cash by tapping into the same Republican-aligned donors who are supportive of the president at a time when Trump’s political team perceives DeSantis as going rogue. Whether Collins has the time or the acumen to raise the cash necessary to be competitive against Donalds, who’s raised more than $45 million, is a major question.

DeSantis knows firsthand the power of Trump’s endorsement. In the 2018 governor’s race, Trump’s backing of DeSantis was a key factor in the then-congressman’s victory over Democrat Andrew Gillum.

Collins has been hinting at a run for months, conducting interviews with media outlets all over the state. He’s talked little about the larger political implications of his announcement, instead talking generally about his leadership style.

On Monday, he touted his record of military service and desire to continue DeSantis’ legacy. Asked what separates him from Donalds, Collins didn’t directly say.

“I have no problems person to person with Byron Donalds,” Collins said. “He has a family. He’s a good family man. I’m grateful for those things.”

“I want to talk about the things that set me aside,” he added.

Before entering the political realm, Collins was a Green Beret who deployed four times to two different continents. During one of his tours, he suffered injuries that led to the amputation of his left leg.

After his military career ended, Collins was chief programs officer at Operation BBQ Relief, which feeds first responders and communities hit by natural disasters.

He entered the political fray when he announced in 2021 that he would run for the deep-blue Tampa area congressional seat held by Democrat Kathy Castor. In 2022, Collins shifted gears, filing for the open congressional seat just east of Castor’s. But that race, too, would have been a challenge: Half a dozen Republican primary opponents awaited him. With DeSantis’ blessing, he ultimately pivoted to the state Senate.

In Tallahassee, Collins proved to be one of DeSantis’ biggest allies. One of the first high-profile measures he sponsored was a 2023 bill to allow for the permitless carry of concealed firearms — long a policy DeSantis had championed. In 2024, Collins sponsored a bill that was drafted in part by the governor’s office to ban offshore wind turbines in state waters and delete most of the references to climate change in state law.

The governor rewarded Collins’ loyalty. In 2024, he endorsed Collins’ wife, Layla, in her run for Hillsborough school board. In July, he picked Collins to be his lieutenant governor.

Alongside Collins, DeSantis has options for whom to endorse. His wife, first lady Casey DeSantis, still may run for the state’s top job, though that’s looking less likely. Former House Speaker Paul Renner, another legislative ally of DeSantis’, entered the governor’s race in September. DeSantis said he would not back Renner in the race, and he called his entry “ill-advised.”

At the news conference announcing his appointment of Collins as lieutenant governor, DeSantis said he wanted someone “that is capable of serving and leading as governor if that need were to ever arise.”

Collins thinks he’s capable. Now it’s up to voters. The primary is Aug. 6.

Times/Herald staff writer Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.

This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 1:35 PM.