Polling Average
50%40%30%20%10%0%
5.5%
40.1%
18.9%
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$3.3M
AUG 19, 2026Primary Election
Party selects its nominee.
Current roleLieutenant Governor
PartyRepublican
Political ideologyConservative Republican
Age49 years old (Apr 28, 1976)
GenderMale
LocationFlorida
BackgroundPolitician
EducationNorwich University (2012)
Notable personal detailsJay Collins (born Jarrid Collins) is an American politician and retired U.S. Army Green Beret who has served as Florida’s lieutenant governor since 2025 after previously representing Florida Senate District 14 as a Republican. He served about 23 years in the U.S. Army, including deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, and later worked in nonprofit leadership roles. Collins is married to Layla Sangid Collins and has two sons, Gabe and Colt.
Jay Collins supports tax relief and pro-business tax changes, emphasizing property tax relief and measures intended to lower taxes for businesses. He has defended proposals to eliminate or reduce property taxes and highlighted the importance of improving Florida’s business climate and economy.
Jay Collins has highlighted parental rights, vaccine transparency/choice, and related public-health messaging in his public role as Florida lieutenant governor and on the campaign trail, but I did not find clear policy statements on major healthcare-system proposals (e.g., Medicaid expansion, ACA, Medicare for All, or specific market-based reforms).
Jay Collins supports aggressive immigration enforcement and coordinated state-federal operations to identify, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants. He has traveled to assist in extradition of an undocumented truck driver and has promoted and participated in large-scale enforcement operations that led to hundreds of deportations. Collins has pledged to continue building on Governor DeSantis’s enforcement-focused immigration agenda in office and in campaign activity.
Jay Collins describes himself as pro-life, has opposed Florida Amendment 4 which would have enshrined broad abortion rights, and has supported Florida’s heartbeat/6‑week restrictions while backing pro-life policies. His public statements emphasize restricting abortion access and protecting unborn children.
Jay Collins sponsored legislation that removes references to greenhouse gas reduction from state energy law, bans certain offshore wind development, advances protections for natural gas appliances, and prioritizes grid reliability and expanded use of nuclear and hydrogen technologies. His legislative actions emphasize protecting fossil-fuel infrastructure and limiting wind development while studying advanced nuclear and hydrogen options.
Jay Collins has sponsored and publicly promoted legislation that removes concealed-carry permitting requirements (permitless or “constitutional” carry) and has backed efforts to lower the minimum firearm purchase age to 18. He frames these actions as restoring Second Amendment rights and has supported rollbacks of post-Parkland gun restrictions while emphasizing support for law enforcement and public safety measures paired with those changes.
The provided reports do not contain any specific, concrete developments involving Jay Collins. Instead, they focus broadly on Florida’s 2026 political environment, including signs of Democratic momentum in special elections and polls showing Republicans holding only single-digit leads in early statewide matchups. Other coverage highlights uncertainty around Florida redistricting and national factors that could affect midterms, but none of it is tied directly to Collins.
New updates coming soon
We're monitoring and will update when new data impacts the race.