Lt. Gov. Jay Collins downplayed expectations for his first fundraising reports since he launched his campaign for Governor, saying the “lobby corps” didn’t back him and preferred U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.
The numbers from the first quarter of this year reflect that, showing the Tampa Republican lost ground against the Donald Trump endorsed front-runner through March 31.
Collins, appointed to his current role by Gov. Ron DeSantis, raised more than $1.6 million to his Quiet Professionals FL political committee and more than $143,000 to his campaign account.
However, 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.
The report, as Collins suggested, showed very little money from lobbyists and from other political leaders, underscoring the difficulty the candidate has had getting traction against Donalds, a candidate that raised $22 million over the same period.
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, even as a key DeSantis backer threw him a lifeline on the reports filed Friday.
