Jay Collins
2025 - Present
2027
0
Jay Collins (Republican Party) is the Lieutenant Governor of Florida. He assumed office on August 12, 2025. His current term ends on January 5, 2027.
Collins (Republican Party) ran for election to the Florida State Senate to represent District 14. He will not appear on the ballot for the general election on November 3, 2026.
Collins resigned from the Florida State Senate District 14 on August 12, 2025, when Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Collins Lieutenant Governor of Florida, replacing Jeanette Nunez.[1]
Biography
Jay Collins was born in Scobey, Montana. Collins served in the United States Army from 1995 to 2018. Collins earned a bachelor's degree in health sciences from American Military University in 2010 and a graduate degree from Norwich University in 2012. His career experience includes working as the chief programs officer of a nonprofit.[2][3]
Political career
Below is a list of offices within Ballotpedia’s scope. Offices outside of that scope will not be listed. If an update is needed and the office is within our scope, please contact us.
Collins' political career includes the following offices:
- 2025-present: Lieutenant Governor of Florida
- 2022-2025: Florida State Senate District 14
Elections
2026
See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for Florida State Senate District 14
Brian Nathan and Njällssen Amaro Lionheart are running in the general election for Florida State Senate District 14 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Brian Nathan (D) | ||
 | Njällssen Amaro Lionheart (R) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jay Collins (R)
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
2022
State Senate
See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Florida State Senate District 14
Jay Collins defeated incumbent Janet Cruz in the general election for Florida State Senate District 14 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jay Collins (R) | 54.6 | 104,776 |
 | Janet Cruz (D) | 45.4 | 87,216 | |
| Total votes: 191,992 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Janet Cruz advanced from the Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 14.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Jay Collins advanced from the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 14.
Campaign finance
U.S. House
See also: Florida's 15th Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House Florida District 15
Laurel Lee defeated Alan Cohn in the general election for U.S. House Florida District 15 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Laurel Lee (R) | 58.5 | 145,219 |
 | Alan Cohn (D) | 41.5 | 102,835 | |
| Total votes: 248,054 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Brian Bertges (No Party Affiliation)
- Josue Vazquez (No Party Affiliation)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 15
Alan Cohn defeated Gavin Brown, Eddie Geller, Cesar Ramirez, and William VanHorn in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Florida District 15 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Alan Cohn | 33.1 | 14,928 |
 | Gavin Brown | 22.3 | 10,034 | |
 | Eddie Geller | 21.9 | 9,859 | |
 | Cesar Ramirez | 17.3 | 7,817 | |
 | William VanHorn | 5.4 | 2,435 | |
| Total votes: 45,073 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jesse Philippe (D)
- Lily Ramcharran (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 15
Laurel Lee defeated Kelli Stargel, Jackie Toledo, Demetries Grimes, and Kevin McGovern in the Republican primary for U.S. House Florida District 15 on August 23, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Laurel Lee | 41.5 | 22,481 |
 | Kelli Stargel | 27.8 | 15,072 | |
 | Jackie Toledo | 11.6 | 6,307 | |
 | Demetries Grimes | 10.4 | 5,629 | |
 | Kevin McGovern | 8.7 | 4,713 | |
| Total votes: 54,202 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Dennis A. Ross (R)
- Jay Collins (R)
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jay Collins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Jay Collins completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Collins' responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- I will defend the Constitution
- I have a proven record of leadership
- I will be a strong voice for the American People
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
State legislative tenure
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Florida scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2024, the Florida State Legislature was in session from January 9 to March 8.
|
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the Florida State Legislature was in session from March 7 to May 5.
|
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Collins was assigned to the following committees:
- Agriculture Committee, Chair
- Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security
- Collective Bargaining Committee
See also
| Florida | State Executive Elections | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ FOX 13 Tampa Bay, "Governor DeSantis appoints Jay Collins as Florida's new lieutenant governor at Tampa news conference," August 12, 2025
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 12, 2021
- ↑ The Florida Senate, "Senator Jay Collins - Personal & Career," accessed December 16, 2022
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jeanette Nuñez (R) |
Lieutenant Governor of Florida 2025-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by Tom Wright (R) |
Florida State Senate District 14 2022-2025 |
Succeeded by - |
| |||||||||||||
