Jarrid "Jay" Collins (born April 28,1976)[1] is an American politician and Army veteran who has served as the 21st lieutenant governor of Florida since August 2025. A member of the Republican Party,he served as a member of the Florida Senate from 2022 until his resignation in 2025.
Born and raised in Montana,Collins served in Army Special Forces for over 20 years. In 2019,he moved to Florida to raise his family and was elected to the Florida Senate in 2022. During his tenure in the state senate,he was a staunch ally of Governor Ron DeSantis. In August 2025,he was appointed as lieutenant governor,succeeding Jeanette Nuñez.
As a Green Beret medic,Collins deployed to Afghanistan,Iraq,and twice to South America. During his 2007 Afghanistan deployment,he was shot in the arm and helped perform surgery on himself in the field of battle. A few months later,he sustained injuries that would eventually lead to the amputation of his leg years later. Following his amputation,Collins re-qualified as a fully deployable Green Beret and served over five more years on active duty. He retired from the U.S. Army at the rank of first sergeant.[5]
After announcing his candidacy for Florida's 14th Senate district, Collins received the endorsement of Governor Ron DeSantis and was unopposed in the Republican primary.[10][11][12] In November 2022, Collins was elected to the Florida Senate after defeating incumbent Democratic state senator Janet Cruz.[13] His district encompassed areas of downtown Tampa, south Tampa, MacDill AFB, and northwestern Hillsborough County.
Official state senatorial portrait of Collins, 2022
In March 2023, Collins introduced an amendment to authorize the flying of the Confederate flag on public buildings and properties in Florida.[16] Collins released a statement denying he was a "confederate sympathizer" and later claimed he authored the amendment by mistake.[16] That same month, Collins introduced a bill to ban flying the pride flag from government buildings in Florida.[17]
In March 2025, Collins sponsored SB 918, which would change child labor laws to allow 14-17 year-olds to work more than eight hours a day on school nights and over 30 hours a week while school is in session, without mandated breaks.[24]
In 2025, Collins authored and led the effort to pass the "Pam Rock Act"; a bill requiring owners of "dangerous dogs" to register, microchip, spay/neuter their animals, and carry US$100,000 in liability insurance.[25] The bill also mandates that a dog will be euthanized if it leaves a bite mark on a human scoring five or higher on the Dunbar bite scale and allows dogs voluntarily given to the state to be euthanized.[25] It was signed into law by Governor DeSantis in May 2025.[25]
During the Hope Florida scandal, Collins has been described as a "vocal advocate" for Hope Florida, saying: "The money was being appropriated and used for the right reasons."[26] In May 2025, Collins spoke alongside Governor DeSantis to defend the "great accomplishments of Hope Florida".[27] In August 2025, Collins praised Hope Florida during his speech at a Republican Party of Florida forum.[28]
Lieutenant governor of Florida (2025–present)
Collins being sworn in by Justice Jamie Grosshans in August 2025
Since assuming office, Collins has faced a turbulent tenure as lieutenant governor. In his second week in office, Florida Politics published leaked text messages between Collins and Representative Alex Andrade revealing they believe Ron DeSantis has autism and has concealed the disorder from the public.[32][33] Later that week, Collins flew to California to escort an undocumented immigrant back to Florida to face charges for an automobile accident; denying the controversy was "performative" after receiving criticism from state legislators who questioned the legality of the extradition.[34][35][36] The week after returning from California, Collins received criticism for his political opposition to diversity, equity, and inclusion while having supported DEI as chief operating officer of Operation BBQ Relief; going so far as mandating yearly DEI training and applying DEI in the selection of contractors and vendors.[37][38] After less than one month in office, Collins considered running for Florida's 14th congressional district in 2026, which would have required him to resign as lieutenant governor due to Florida's resign-to-run laws, but decided not to run.[39] Instead, he has expressed interest in running for governor of Florida in 2026.[40][41]
Personal life
In 2019, Collins and his family moved to Florida, originally settling in Pasco County.[42] He is married to his wife, Layla; they have two sons and live in Tampa.[42] Layla was an unsuccessful candidate for Hillsborough County school board in 2024, and was appointed to the Florida Board of Education by Governor DeSantis in July 2025.[43][44]
Italics indicate next-in-line of succession for states and territories without a directly elected lieutenant governor or whose lieutenant governor office is vacant:
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