Jay Collins rebuts ‘100% BS’ rumor that he’s about to suspend gubernatorial campaign

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins checked in from the road Thursday night to let Floridians know he wasn’t abandoning his campaign to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis anytime soon, using evocative language to make his point.

“There is a zero percent chance that I’m about to suspend my campaign,” the Tampa Republican tweeted. “That is in fact a 100% b——- rumor.”

Speculation swirled that DeSantis’ second-in-command would suspend his campaign Thursday, in the wake of a canceled meet and greet in Cape Coral and “unforeseen circumstances” keeping him from Friday’s Central Florida Tiger Bay meeting. Often, canceled events preclude a candidate withdrawing from a race, particularly when odds are long.

Senior Advisor John Cardillo had said that Collins’ rumored withdrawal was an “absolute lie” promulgated by rival second-tier campaigns.

“(Paul) Renner and (James) Fishback surrogates know their campaigns are done, so instead of conceding professionally they are now resorting to flat out lies. We raised twice as much as Renner in Q1 and nearly 8x Fishback. Our momentum is growing as they fade away,” he posted to X, eliding the fact that Renner actually has more cash on hand than Collins, even after a quarter where he spent more than he raised.

None of the campaigns are juggernauts based on the most recent fundraising reports, given that front-runner Byron Donalds raised $22 million last quarter.

While Collins raised more than $1.6 million to his Quiet Professionals FL political committee and more than $143,000 to his campaign account, one donor was responsible for a million dollars of the committee’s collections: United Again, LLC.

The company, which has enthusiastically backed the Governor’s campaigns, is reportedly a vehicle for political donations for Body Armor CEO Michael Repole.

Collins downplayed expectations for his first fundraising reports since he launched his campaign for Governor, saying the “lobby corps” didn’t back him.

While Collins has blamed “suppression polling” for his slow start, Donalds consistently polls between 40% and 50% statewide, while Collins languishes in single digits and speaks in front of small crowds as he barnstorms the state.

DeSantis has yet to endorse Collins, which has led to reporters routinely asking the Tampa Republican why the Governor hasn’t seen fit to back the man he previously called the “Chuck Norris of Florida politics.”

Collins has said he needed to prove himself as worthy of that endorsement, but far behind in polls and with underwhelming fundraising, he is quickly running out of time to make that case, especially given that he’s reduced to saying rumors of his campaign’s death are exaggerated.