TAMPA — Lt.
Gov.
Jay Collins checked in from the road Thursday night, apparently still on the move, to tell Floridians he wasn’t about to abandon his gubernatorial campaign to replace Gov.
Ron DeSantis.
The moment had that familiar campaign-trail feel—late hour, phone buzzing, and the kind of breathless clarity candidates try to project before the next stop.
Collins fires back as rumor links to canceled events
Speculation had been building that DeSantis’ second-in-command would step back Thursday, after a canceled meet and greet in Cape Coral and what were described as “unforeseen circumstances” that kept him from a Friday Central Florida Tiger Bay meeting.
In campaign politics, canceled events can sometimes be a tell—often they come right before a withdrawal, especially when a candidate’s odds are already a long shot.
Misryoum newsroom reported that Senior Advisor John Cardillo called the rumor an “absolute lie” spread by rival second-tier campaigns.
Cardillo pointed to momentum, claiming collisions with rivals were fueled by “flat out lies.” He added that Collins raised twice as much as Renner in Q1 and nearly 8x Fishback as they “fade away,” while eliding the detail that Renner actually has more cash on hand than Collins, even after a quarter where Collins spent more than he raised.
The disagreement isn’t exactly subtle—it’s the kind of accounting fight that usually ends up turning into a side-plot rather than a headline.
Fundraising gaps and polling pressure mount
Collins has tried to dampen expectations around early fundraising, arguing the “lobby corps” didn’t back him.
Still, the numbers keep circling back.
While Collins has blamed “suppression polling” for a slow start, Donalds consistently polls between 40% and 50% statewide, while Collins languishes in single digits.
And he’s been speaking in front of small crowds as he barnstorms the state—which is both a strategy and, depending on who’s watching, maybe a sign of how hard it is to break through.
DeSantis hasn’t endorsed Collins yet, a gap that’s been awkward enough to prompt reporters to repeatedly ask why the Governor hasn’t backed the Tampa Republican, especially after DeSantis previously called him the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics.” Collins has said he needs to prove himself worthy of endorsement, but with polls behind him, and fundraising that still isn’t landing as solidly as opponents would like, time looks tight.
In the meantime, he’s been reduced to reiterating that talk of his campaign dying is exaggerated—though, honestly, that’s not a thing candidates can fully control once the rumor machine starts humming.
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