Janelle Irwin Taylor
Jay Collins, a first-term Republican state Senator, landed a mention in 2023 on the list of Tampa Bay’s Most Powerful Politicians, a feat made possible by knocking off a well-funded, battle-tested incumbent in former Sen. Janet Cruz, in his first run for political office in 2022.
He followed that up last year with a No. 23 placing on the list, riding a red wave into the 2024 Legislative Session with an impressive more than 60 appropriations requests sponsored.
Now he’s on his way up yet again, landing this time at No. 16, an improvement of seven places in just one year.
“Sen. Jay Collins is a true American patriot and a steadfast friend. Serving alongside him in the Florida Senate for the past three years has been an honor,” Sen. Nick DiCeglie said. “No one works harder for their constituents than Jay. His omnipresence and unwavering commitment to every task are truly impressive. Fearlessly tackling major issues, Sen. Collins has strengthened our state through his legislative successes.”
Collins, a staunch conservative, has emerged as an ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis as the couple faces political blowback over controversial use of Hope Florida Foundation monies for political purposes. His positioning with Florida’s First Family has even led to speculation that he could run for Governor, which, as of May, he was not ruling out.
His relationship with the DeSantises has also led to speculation that DeSantis could choose him to be the state’s next Lieutenant Governor, a position that opened when Jeanette Nuñez departed to lead Florida International University in February. Collins in May said he was open to the prospect.
Collins’ name has also been bandied about in talks about Tampa’s open mayoral race in 2027, when current Mayor Jane Castor faces term limits. It would be a remarkable feat for a Republican to earn Tampa’s top elected job — the city has long been a Democratic stronghold. And while early polling indicates a tough road for Collins should he decide to run for Mayor, he’s also not the longest shot so far. Recent polling of the Mayor’s race queried likely voters about Collins, as well as several prominent local Democrats, and he drew 9% support, far behind former Mayor Bob Buckhorn, at 49%, and Tampa City Council member Bill Carlson, at 22%, but ahead of Tampa City Council member Lynn Hurtak, who drew just 8% support in the poll.
But rumors and speculation aside, it’s Collins’ legislative work that likely sets him apart from others who are either further down on this list, or who didn’t make the cut at all.
Collins serves as chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, a post that, while it’s not the most prestigious, is considered a critical destination for legislation addressing various infrastructure challenges facing the state, and in particular, growing urban hot spots like the Tampa Bay region. He also sits on the powerful Appropriations committee, where he has a seat at the table determining Florida’s purse strings, and is an alternating chair for the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee, a group that evaluates legislation for possible changes. Additionally, Collins is the No. 2 in the Military and Veterans Affairs, Space and Domestic Security Committee.
His list of sponsored bills in the 2025 Legislative Session is too long to list, a mark of an ambitious lawmaker. The bills run the gamut from improving dental therapy and other health care access to pro-Second Amendment measures and a host of veterans and military policies close to his heart — Collins is a retired Army Green Beret who served for 23 years.
Collins successfully sponsored legislation to enhance penalties for attempting to elude law enforcement; streamline concealed carry permits for law enforcement, corrections officers and military members; add disability history awareness instruction to curricula; protect individuals from dangerous dogs; enhance driver license education requirements; increase penalties for perpetrators of certain crimes against minors; reform the state’s medical marijuana law; enhance the state’s ability to collect judgements in proceedings related to terrorism; enhance the ability of spaceport and space industry projects to obtain grant funding; and to recognize Keiser University and two U.S. Army officers.
While it stalled, Collins also showed his willingness to take on tough issues that are likely to find plenty of controversy. He was the Senate sponsor for a measure (SB 918) that would have expanded the number of hours minors ages 16 and 17 could work to eight hours per day and 30 hours per week during school sessions.
The measure was pushed by DeSantis, whose pitch aimed to allow teens to work overnight hours on school nights and would have allowed them to pull long shifts without required meal breaks. DeSantis’ office pitched the bill directly to Collins and House sponsor Rep. Monique Miller, according to emails uncovered by the Miami Herald.
Even before this year, Collins appeared on his way up the echelons of legislative power brokers. In the 2024 Legislative Session, he sponsored a measure (SB 150) to allow eligible gun owners to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. It passed, and the Governor signed it, much to the chagrin of Democrats who opposed the bill.
Collins also sponsored legislation (SB 668) to ban flags from flying over government facilities unless they were Governor-approved. He later filed an amendment with a list of allowable flags, including the Confederate flag, but quickly withdrew it and his original bill from consideration. The measure was similar to a bill that drew harsh critique for ostensibly targeting Pride flags, filed this year by then-Sen. Randy Fine, which also went belly up.
In another piece of red meat thrown to the GOP base, Collins successfully sponsored a bill (SB 1264) mandating communism history education in schools beginning in the 2026-27 school year. Supporters, including Collins, argued it’s important to ensure Florida students understand the pitfalls of communism.
“Senator and Green Beret Jay Collins fought to protect American families for over 20 years. Now, he continues to fight for the citizens of Florida as a member of the Florida legislature with much success. To say we’re lucky to have a man of his integrity serving in the Legislature is an understatement,” The Southern Group’s Mike Moore said.
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A special thanks to RSA Consulting Group, the sponsor of this year’s rankings.
As for methodology, we define the Tampa Bay region as Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco, but we can also include Hernando, Polk or Sarasota if the politicians from those counties impact either Pinellas or Hillsborough.
We define a politician as being in office or running for office.
Being first on a panelist’s list earns the politician 25 points, second earns them 24 points, and so on, to where being listed 25th earns a politician one point. Points are added and, voilà, we have a list.
We also want to thank our experienced and knowledgeable panelists, who were essential to developing the 2025 list: Vinik Family Office Chief of Staff Christina Barker; communications consultant Ashley Bauman of Mercury Public Affairs; Matt Blair of Corcoran Partners; Reggie Cardozo of The Public Square; Stephanie Cardozo of The Southern Group; Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick managing partner Ron Christaldi; former state Sen. Janet Cruz; political consultant/strategist Barry Edwards; Vicidial Group President Matt Florell; Sunrise Consulting Group President Shawn Foster; businessman Michael Griffin; Clay Hollis of Tucker/Hall; Natalie King of RSA Consulting Group; Moffitt Cancer Center VP of Public Affairs and Communications Merritt Martin; former state Rep. Seth McKeel of The Southern Group; political consultant Chris Mitchell; Mike Moore of The Southern Group; RSA President and CEO Ron Pierce; Tucker/Hall CEO Darren Richards; political consultant Jim Rimes; political consultant Preston Rudie of Catalyst Communications Group; TECO VP of State and Regional Affairs Stephanie Smith; lobbyist Alan Suskey of Shumaker Advisors; Doyle Walsh, Chief of Staff for St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch; Michelle and Peter Schorsch, publishers of Florida Politics.
