Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins has adamantly denied swirling speculation that he is about to withdraw from the Republican race for governor to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The online rumor was fueled by his decision to cancel campaign events on Thursday and Friday.
“There is a 0% chance I am suspending my campaign,” he posted on X late Thursday. “That is, in fact, a 100% bulls*** rumor.”
There are concerns that his campaign is losing money, considering he has only raised less than $2 million in the first quarter this year. By contrast, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who’s the front-runner in the race by a wide margin, raised $22 million over the same period.
Since entering the race in January, Collins has not been endorsed by DeSantis. That will likely remain the case if the term-limited governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, chooses to run for governor. She has until June 12 to qualify for the Aug. 18 primary ballot in Florida.
Before becoming lieutenant governor last year, Collins started serving as a state senator in 2022. He was a staunch DeSantis ally during his legislative tenure.
DeSantis appointed Collins as his lieutenant governor in August 2025 to fill a six-month vacancy left by Jeanette Nunez, who went on to serve as president at Florida International University.
Speaking on Jacksonville’s WBOB radio station on Friday morning, Collins doubled down on staying in the race. If he were to drop out of the race, the Tampa Republican said he would simply say so.
“If I were to jump out of the race, I would come tell people and do it the right way, the way I’ve done everything, right?” he said. “The rumor mill that people start is utterly ridiculous. And it’s so nonsensical. Look, I’m in the race. I’m in this to win it.”
Collins made the case that he is the best candidate to succeed the sitting governor.
“If I thought that the other people in this race were capable of leading the state the way it needs to be done after Governor Ron DeSantis, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “I would be with my family. I wouldn’t take away the hours. I averaged just a handful of hours asleep every single night.”
Despite canceling a few of his campaign events, the gubernatorial candidate said he held 51 events last week and more than 30 this week.
Besides Collins and Donalds, political newcomer James Fishback and former Florida House Speaker Paul Renner are also running for governor this year.
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Donalds, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, leads the Republican primary field by over 40 points against all of his opponents, according to an Emerson College poll released earlier this month. Collins, Fishback, and Renner are each in the single digits, although that’s primarily because 39% of likely voters remain undecided at this stage in the race.
If Casey DeSantis were to enter the race, she wouldn’t make that much of an impact, according to the same poll. Donalds would still lead by double digits.