Overview

• The appointment ends a six-month vacancy created when former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez left for an academic post in February.
• Collins, first elected to the Florida Senate in 2022, earned a Bronze Star and Purple Heart as an Army Special Forces Green Beret.
• He was sworn in minutes after DeSantis’s announcement and assumes a largely ceremonial role with succession duties.
• Collins’s elevation creates a vacancy in the Tampa Senate seat and triggers a special election to fill his legislative post.
• The move positions Collins as a potential 2026 governor candidate and sets up a counterweight to President Trump’s endorsed pick, Rep. Byron Donalds.