Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida named State Senator Jay Collins as lieutenant governor on Tuesday, elevating a loyal ally as Republicans jostle over who should be Mr. DeSantis’s successor.
Mr. DeSantis, who is term limited, has said that his wife, Casey DeSantis, is considering a run for governor next year. If she does not run, however, Mr. Collins could end up being the governor’s pick in the Republican primary. For now, the front-runner in that race is Representative Byron Donalds of Naples, who has been endorsed by President Trump.
Mr. Collins, who is serving his first term as a legislator from Tampa, is a retired Army Green Beret. In the course of his decorated military career, Mr. Collins suffered serious injuries that resulted in the amputation of one of his legs. He later re-enlisted, wearing a prosthetic leg, Mr. DeSantis said.
“He has been very, very strong with everything,” Mr. DeSantis said at an event in Tampa on Tuesday before Mr. Collins’s swearing in.
The position of lieutenant governor, which is largely ceremonial, had been vacant since February, when Jeanette M. Núñez, Mr. DeSantis’s running mate in 2018 and 2022, was named the interim president of Florida International University in Miami, at Mr. DeSantis’s suggestion.
In addition to being a legislator, Mr. Collins, 47, has worked as the chief operating officer for Operation BBQ Relief, a nonprofit organization that helps provide meals after natural disasters. He traveled to the Middle East in June to assist the DeSantis administration with flights arranged to evacuate Americans from Israel.
“You don’t flinch when that next mission comes up,” Mr. Collins said on Tuesday, thanking Mr. DeSantis and his wife. “Today, Florida is the conservative proving grounds of the United States of America because this family put us there.”
As a state senator, Mr. Collins has defended Hope Florida, a project that Ms. DeSantis began in 2021 to keep people off public assistance. Republican lawmakers recently investigated Hope Florida’s fund-raising arm, focusing on $10 million that it received last year from a Medicaid contractor that had overbilled the state. The fund-raising arm gave the money to two nonprofit political committees that helped Mr. DeSantis defeat a ballot measure that would have legalized marijuana. State prosecutors are now investigating.
Mr. DeSantis has been able to fill a slew of important offices with allies since Mr. Trump returned to the White House and tapped numerous Floridians to work in his administration. Mr. DeSantis appointed Ashley Moody, who had been the Florida attorney general, to the U.S. Senate and James Uthmeier, his former chief of staff, as attorney general.
Last month, Mr. DeSantis appointed Blaise Ingoglia, a former state senator, as the state’s chief financial officer. Mr. Ingoglia succeeded Jimmy Patronis, who was elected to the congressional seat previously held by Matt Gaetz.
Patricia Mazzei is the lead reporter for The Times in Miami, covering Florida and Puerto Rico.
The post DeSantis Appoints Ally to Be Lieutenant Governor appeared first on New York Times.
