Jay Collins’ appointment marks the legacy building moves for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, setting Collins as the standard rep for potentially facing Byron Donald at GOP Governor Primary in 2026.
Deportation begins with “Crocodile Alcatraz.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke at the “Alligator Alcatraz” Immigration Detention Center in the Everglades on Friday morning. Desantis provided an update on current deportation flights operating from the facility’s onsite runways, highlighting its role in accelerating the removal of detainees. Marie Edinger from Fox 35 breaks down what’s discussed.
Fox-35 Orlando
TALHASSEE, Fla. – Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed State Sen. Jay Collins as Florida’s next lieutenant governor on August 12, finishing his six-month vacancy in that position.
Former lieutenant governor Janet Nunez left his office in February as interim president of Florida International University in Fort Lauderdale. She later became permanent president.
Collins, a former Green Beret and state senator who has lost his leg in service since 2022, is a stubborn ally of DeSantis. They also share a military background: DeSantis was an officer of the Navy Jug. The Desantis announcement came at a press conference at the Tampa Green Beret Association.
His appointment sets Collins as the standard rep who can challenge Republican Rep. Byron Donald, who was approved by President Donald Trump in 2026, Florida Governor Primary, and shows the legacy building move on the part of the governor, where Terms is restricted.
DeSantis has not approved Donald, who launched the campaign in February. Also, the decision to run to succeed her husband, Florida’s First Lady Casey DeSantis, which has been speculated for months, has not yet been realized.
The lieutenant governor’s post is not subject to a set obligation except to take over as governor as required, but will pay $135,516 a year. The governor earns $141,400 a year.
The Florida Constitution states that anyone in the role “requires obligations relating to the Governor’s Office, except as otherwise provided by law, as may be provided by law” “will carry out obligations relating to the Governor’s Office.”
Nunez, for example, chaired the Florida board of directors, “overseeing the Florida Department of Health, heading the Florida Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, and serving on the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.”
Who is Jay Collins?
Jarrid “Jay” Collins, 47, is an Army combat veteran and a state senator representing Hillsboro County in western Florida.
Born in Scobie, Montana and raised by grandparents, Collins earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences and medicine from the US Military College and a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Norwich University.
According to the Green Beret PAC, in 1995, Collins began his career as a medic in the US Army Special Forces. He was deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and South America. During his 23 years of service, his leg was injured and eventually amputated, but he was recertified as a Green Beret and served for more than five more years before retiring as the first sergeant.
Collins was elected to the Florida Senate in November 2022 after dropping out of the US house race, which at one point had eight Republican candidates.
Collins chaired the state Senate Transportation Committee and submitted a stable list of successful bills to allow hidden carry in Florida without permission. The bill to ease Florida’s Child Labor Act this year passed away on the committee.
Collins joins other Desantis loyalists as political appointees
When the Florida Legislature passed the Sweep Immigration Bill in January, rejecting DeSantis’ more aggressive demands that the governor immediately rejected, Collins was one of 16 senators who voted against the bill.
Collins also publicly defended the governor and his wife that Florida House Republicans had illegally leaked Casey DeSantis’s Hope Florida fundraising unit to a political committee that controls the hopeful property division to the government commission, which illegally leaks part of the $67 million Medicaid contractor settlement. Marijuana.
Uthmeier was appointed Florida Attorney General by DeSantis after Trump took over Marco Rubio, whom he nominated for the US Senate, and took over Ashley Moody. Wilton Simpson, the state’s agricultural commissioner, is the only elected member of the Florida Cabinet.
Collins and his wife, Leila, have two sons, Gabe and Colt. His appointment also creates a vacant seat in the Senate, which must be filled with special elections.
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This story contains previously published material. Jim Rosica provided additional reports. Gray Rohrer is a reporter for the USA Today Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be contacted at grohrer@gannett.com. X: Follow him on @grayrohrer.
