Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins is 4th Republican Running for Governor as DeSantis Hangs Fire on Endorsement

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins announced his long-awaited bid for governor Monday, hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis wavered on whether he’ll get involved in the Republican race to succeed him.

Collins, a 49-year-old former Green Beret and state senator, told FOX News that his commitment to DeSantis’s agenda and willingness to partner with President Donald Trump would mark his tenure as Florida governor. His statement came just hours after DeSantis ducked a question about whether he plans to endorse Collins.

“I’m running for governor to keep Florida strong and to build on the legacy of leadership that has made our state the model for the nation,” Collins said. “As governor, I will be a strong partner to President Trump in fighting for secure borders, a strong economy, and an America First agenda that puts families and freedom first.”

Collins becomes the latest Republican to enter the gubernatorial primary, joining Trump-endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, former House Speaker Paul Renner, and investor James Fishback.

Although the timing was unanticipated, the choice to run is not a surprise. Collins has been heavily hinting at his plan to run for six months — since DeSantis first elevated him to the lieutenant governor post in August. By picking Collins, speculation that DeSantis would support him as a hand-picked successor in a 2026 bid ran rampant.

At the time, DeSantis did nothing to quell those rumors.

Instead, he bashed Donalds and criticized Renner while hailing Collins as the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics.” He brought the Tampa Republican to the majority of his press conferences in late summer and early fall, posted campaign-like videos of Collins’ accomplishments, and even dispatched the lieutenant governor to California to extradite an undocumented immigrant accused of vehicular manslaughter.

But that relationship appears to have thinned in the months since Collins took over the second-in-command role.

“Jay’s a good guy, he’s served this country admirably as a Green Beret, he has had a great conservative record in the Florida Senate,” DeSantis told onlookers at an unrelated press conference in Davie Monday morning.

“I don’t know when he’s going to announce or not announce. My role — obviously I’m focused on the State of the State [address] and some other things. If I get involved in the primary you’ll know it, it’ll be at a time and place of my choosing, and so we’ll see,” he added.

NBC first reported in mid-December that two of DeSantis’ aides have been quietly in contact with Fishback, an acute critic of both Collins and Donalds. Both aides have denied the report.

In early December, DeSantis told the Floridian Press that he doesn’t “get involved in a lot of primaries,” and stressed that “we’ll see” whether he chooses to wade into the race. At the time, he emphasized the importance of having a strong record and being aligned with him on policies, but didn’t offer the same glowing praise he’d previously offered of Collins on those counts.

Collins was the only top Florida official missing at a recent press conference at the “Deportation Depot” immigrant detention center in Baker County.

Collins, meanwhile, has stuck by all of the governor’s policies, regularly lauding him on social media and in interviews with the press.

The primary is on Aug. 18.

Liv Caputo, Florida Phoenix