{"id":115756,"date":"2026-01-13T00:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/115756\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T00:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T00:22:17","slug":"floridas-lieutenant-governor-declares-2026-run-for-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/115756\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida\u2019s Lieutenant Governor Declares 2026 Run for Governor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Jay Collins, Florida\u2019s Lieutenant Governor, declared his intention to run for governor today on X. A former state senator, Collins emphasized his goal to offer leadership developed through challenging situations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">This afternoon, Collins announced his plan to run for governor, highlighting his view that authentic leadership develops through difficult circumstances, not soundbites. Collins\u2019 military service, during which he served over 23 years as a Green Beret, greatly influences his view on governance.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I\u2019m running for Governor because leadership is forged under pressure, not in soundbites. I served over 23 years in the United States military, mainly as a Green Beret, where accountability is real, decisions have consequences, and service comes before self. That experience shaped\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jay Collins (@JayCollinsFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JayCollinsFL\/status\/2010777190841856090?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">January 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">Collins was appointed Lieutenant Governor by Ron DeSantis in August 2022 after Jeanette Nu\u00f1ez stepped down to become President of Florida International University. <\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\">His military career and service influenced his approach to public office, as he stated in his remarks: \u201cI served more than 23 years in the United States military, mainly as a Green Beret, where accountability is real, decisions have consequences and service comes before self. That experience shaped how I lead and why I believe public office is a public trust,\u201d Collins said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/mobile-apps\">Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/www.wftv.com\/video\/\">click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wftvapps.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768263737_947_APP DOWNLOAD LOCAL_1541693885678.jpg_13622062_ver1.0.jpg\" width=\"100%\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n<p class=\"default__StyledText-sc-tl066j-0 eJzHXc body-paragraph body-copyright\">\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 Jay Collins, Florida\u2019s Lieutenant Governor, declared his intention to run for governor today on X.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[58473,27695,58471,17532,28,30,58468,29,58469,58474,34860,58470,58472,34859,634,1375,115,1300,19301,11103,1045],"class_list":["post-115756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-byron_donalds","tag-collins","tag-david_jolly","tag-democrat","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-lt-gov-announces-2026-run-for-governor","tag-florida-news","tag-governor_of","tag-james_fishback","tag-jay_collins","tag-jeannette_nunez","tag-jerry_demings","tag-lieutenant","tag-local","tag-mayor","tag-news","tag-orange_county","tag-representative","tag-republican","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}