Jay Collins says it’s not a matter of if Ron DeSantis decides to endorse him, it’s when.
Asked about whether he wanted to see DeSantis “make a decision” to officially back his appointed Lieutenant Governor in the race to succeed him, Collins suggested it’s only a matter of time.
“The Governor and I are in a great space. I know where he is, and when he decides to jump into this race, you’ll have no doubt that he’s in. When he’s ready, I’m sure he’ll make the appropriate decision,” Collins said on Fox News Radio.
Collins certainly could use the help.
On average, he trails front-runner Byron Donalds by more than 44 points in polls.
Donalds had $65 million on hand as of the most recent campaign finance reports.
Collins had roughly $5.5 million, after raising less than $68,000 between his campaign account and the committee while spending more than $590,000, including $140,000 on fundraising consulting.
Collins also claimed he was doing “pretty well” in the polls compared to DeSantis in 2018, a claim that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Collins is at 6.5% on average, with a range of 1% to 15% in public surveys taken since October.
DeSantis was at 15% in a FL Chamber poll and 21% in an NBC News/Marist survey.
As he has before, he said that DeSantis’ victory over Adam Putnam in 2018 and Rick Scott’s over Bill McCollum in 2010 showed that Floridians often don’t vote for the “person who thinks they’re winning.”
But caveats apply.
DeSantis, like Donalds, was endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Scott, unlike Collins, was independently wealthy and spent liberally to get his message out.
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