A new public opinion poll of Republican primary gubernatorial voters shows that Florida Lt. Governor Jay Collins (R) popularity has grown, and that if Governor Ron DeSantis endorses him, he will surpass Rep. Byron Donalds (R) in Florida’s 2026 Republican gubernatorial sweepstakes.
According to the Public Opinion Strategies poll (3.7 Margin of error) commissioned by the Florida Fighter political action committee, of the 700 Republican primary voters polled, Collins garners 13 percent of the vote while Trump-endorsed Rep. Donalds leads with 40 percent support.
Florida Fighters has spent millions on positive statewide ads favoring Collins.
There are still 38 percent of those surveyed who are undecided, while the two other candidates in the race, James Fishback and Paul Renner, have garnered 2 percent and 1 percent support, respectively.
The biggest takeaway from the poll is Gov. DeSantis’ potential involvement in the race.
If DeSantis jumps in the race and endorses Collins over Donalds, Collins jumps in the poll by 37 percentage points to 50 percentage points.
That’s a big jump, but is there a big rub here, too?
If Jay Collins were to finally launch his gubernatorial campaign with “the complete and total endorsement of Governor Ron DeSantis,” Collins would surpass Rep. Donalds with a 50%-24% percentage vote advantage.
What if DeSantis holds off on endorsing Collins? Will that affect any future polling?
DeSantis recently took the “wait and see” approach to answering if he would get involved in this statewide race.
"So you won't probably get involved in the race if Jay gets in," DeSantis was asked in a recent interview with The Floridian, prompting Gov. DeSantis to respond with, "Well, we'll see what happens." (VIDEO)
On another note, Collins’ U.S. Army Green Beret background also helps him with likely primary voters.
“After just four positive messages regarding Jay Collins’s background as a Green Beret and his conservative positions, Collins turns a 19%-46% deficit into a 40%-30% lead over Donalds.”
Collins has been criticized by Florida’s political world or not announcing his gubernatorial campaign sooner, leading many withing certain political water cooler orbits to question whether he will run or not.
