TALLAHASSEE — In just three years, Jay Collins has gone from nonprofit executive to state senator to a lieutenant governor viewed as having an inside track in the governor’s race in 2026.
During that time, the nonprofit organization where the Tampa-area Republican served as a top officer entered the Florida market and then received $16 million in disaster relief business from the state.
At Missouri-based Operation BBQ, Collins, a decorated U.S. Army veteran, pulled down a six-figure salary as part of the executive team. The organization, which provides meals to those impacted by natural disasters, started doing business with the state after Collins won the Republican primary in a Tampa-area race in 2022, state records show. Three weeks later, he defeated Democratic Sen. Janet Cruz to win the seat.
The food relief organization received its first $2.63 million of a $5.11 million contract to feed Hurricane Ian victims two weeks after Collins won that race with the help of an endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis and thousands of dollars from the Republican Party. His victory flipped the district red to help give Republicans a supermajority in the Senate, which enabled DeSantis to push through many of his legislative priorities with minimal resistance from Democrats.
The Orlando Sentinel reported on that first contract in 2023; the group has since received another $8.3 million of the $16 million worth of food relief it’s under contract to provide.
The flow of money to Operation BBQ concurrent with Collins’ stint in the senate “might give the average voter pause and raise an eyebrow,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.
The Legislature is responsible for deciding the state’s spending plan each year and setting rules for the awarding of grants and contracts.
“It does look like a potential conflict of interest when you look at the timing of a high-ranking official beginning to operate and get contracts the same time he’s elected to the majority party of the Legislature,” Jewett said.
State emergency management officials said Operation BBQ Relief received the first contract as part of a regular competitive bidding process. It is unclear whether Collins played a role in drafting the proposal or obtaining the first contract or subsequent state work for the organization. State emergency management officials did not respond to further requests for comment about Collins’ involvement in the selection process or subsequent purchase orders.
Collins did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did the governor’s office.
Ben Wilcox of the independent watchdog group Integrity Florida likened Collins’ situation to that of former Sen. Lauren Book. A Democrat from Plantation, Book ran a nonprofit child abuse prevention organization, Lauren’s Kids, that received over $24 million from the Legislature over nearly a decade and a half.
She was paid a $200,000 annual salary from the organization, yet voted to give Lauren’s Kids millions in grants, saying she was advised by Senate lawyers that she didn’t have to abstain on such matters.
“There were questions raised about whether she should disclose the potential conflict or abstain from voting,” Wilcox said. “My advice at the time was she should at least disclose.”
Book did not.
Florida lawmakers are considered part-time politicians and expected to maintain full-time jobs, Wilcox said, so the bar on conflicts of interest is set intentionally low and name recognition can play a role in deciding who gets contracts.
“It could be a nod and a wink kind of thing, the fact that he’s listed as an employee means something to the people giving the contracts,” Wilcox said.
As a senator, Collins doesn’t appear to have voted on any money going directly to his organization or appear to have disclosed any conflicts of interest.
During his first two years in the Senate, Collins was appointed chair of the senate agricultural committee, and assigned to several high profile budget and policy committees. He introduced legislation supporting the governor’s agenda, including a proposal that would allow residents to carry guns without getting permits.
He’s been a steadfast and loyal supporter of DeSantis, most recently sponsoring several of the governor’s immigration reforms during a special session of the Legislature. He also defended the controversial decision by the Hope Florida Foundation, First Lady Casey DeSantis’ pet project, to give $10 million to two political groups that were campaigning against Amendment 3, the failed ballot initiative to legalize marijuana.
DeSantis appointed Collins as lieutenant governor on Aug. 12, six months after Jeanette Nunez stepped down to become president of Florida International University in Miami.
Florida Sen. Jay Collins, (R-District 14) left, surrounded by family members and Governor Ron DeSantis, takes the oath of office after being named the new Lieutenant Governor of Florida during a news conference Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)
During his swearing-in ceremony in Tampa two weeks ago, DeSantis said Collins was someone “that will help us deliver more wins for the people of Florida and is also capable of serving and leading as governor, if that need were to arise.”
Collins said he would do his best to help support the governor’s agenda.
In the past few months, Collins has been mentioned frequently as a possible candidate for governor. He has said he has not decided if he will run but that the race needs competition. If he does decide to run, he would likely get endorsed by DeSantis, who said recently that Collins has what it takes to be a “compelling” candidate.
A Collins candidacy backed by DeSantis would likely further deepen the rift between the governor and President Donald Trump, who has endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds of Naples for the job.
The same day DeSantis appointed him, Collins gave up his $221,000-a-year job as chief operating officer at Operation BBQ.
His annual salary as lieutenant governor is $135,000, and he’s already making high-profile moves in a role that is often very low key, traveling by chartered jet to California to oversee the extradition of Harjinder Singh, an undocumented immigrant from India accused of making a deadly U-turn in South Florida that killed three.
Harjinder Singh is escorted onto an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Stockton, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy)
Collins, a Montana native, served in the U.S. Army for 23 years, seeing combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. He lost his left leg in battle and returned to active duty for five more years after he was fitted with a prosthetic. He retired in 2018.
He met his wife Layla Collins while both were serving in the military. After she lost a Hillsborough County School Board race, DeSantis in July appointed her to the State Board of Education.
Collin and his family moved to Florida in 2019. In 2021, the Gary Sinise Foundation built and donated a $1.2 million accessible smart home for Collins and his family in northwestern Hillsborough County. As a fully disabled veteran, Collins pays no property taxes on the home.
Collins began working for Operation BBQ Relief in December of 2018, seven years after the organization was created and served its first hot meals to victims of the 2011 tornadoes in Joplin, Mo.
“Jay was a valued member of the OBR team,” co-founder and chief administrative officer Will Cleaver said via email.
The organization has served over 11 million meals in 36 states, according to its most recent tax return. That includes close to 2.5 million meals distributed to victims of hurricanes Ian, Idalia, Debby, Helene and Milton in Florida, based on public contract and purchase order information.
To date, the nonprofit has received $13.4 million from the state and $171,500 in donations from the Florida Disaster Fund.
Collins has been on the ground distributing meals. In an Aug. 25 post on X, Collins stated: “When Hurricane Ian hit Ft. Myers, I didn’t run to cameras. We lived in tents and campers making sure families had food and water. I will always roll up my sleeves for Floridians.”
