DeSantis picks 'the Chuck Norris of Florida politics' as new top deputy

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chose a prominent state lawmaker and amputee combat veteran dubbed the "Chuck Norris of Florida Politics" on Tuesday to be his second in command in Tallahassee.

The choice of state Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, makes the DeSantis-Collins team the only all-veteran executive state leadership pair in the country.

DeSantis praised Collins' bravery in battle, where he earned the Bronze Star and Purple Heart as a Green Beret during the War on Terror while also being deployed to South America - while Collins said DeSantis does not speak enough about his own Navy service.

The governor was a judge advocate general (JAG) officer for the U.S. Navy and a rules-of-engagement legal advisor to Seal Team One during President George W. Bush's Iraq "surge."

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Collins lost a leg in Afghanistan - or, as he said Tuesday, "I didn't lose a leg; I know where it is" - and also helped command Florida's evacuation of Jewish Americans from Israel after the Gazan terror attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

DeSantis said Tuesday that while he commanded the operation from Tallahassee, it was Collins who chose to go to Israel and Jordan himself to help the U.S. citizens back to the safety of Tampa Bay.

"As our state senator from Tampa, he's been a man of action," DeSantis said of Collins.

"He has delivered conservative wins and I think has been one of the most productive senators we have had in modern Florida history and on all the big issues. He not only was an ally of mine, he was standing up for you."

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In addition to his volunteerism in Israel, when hurricanes struck the lower Gulf Coast, Collins was on the ground feeding people and helping displaced residents through his charity, DeSantis said.

"Sen. Jay Collins is the Chuck Norris of Florida politics. And I am proud to announce today that I am appointing him to be the next lieutenant governor of the 'Free State of Florida.'"

"I really want to thank the governor and the first lady for their trust and their faith in myself and our family," Collins said after taking the dais.

"I didn t grow up with privilege or wealth. I was adopted. Raised on my grandparents. I watched my father pass away before I was really a man. And later chose to serve our nation to fight for a nation that afforded me every opportunity to climb out of those circumstances and rose up to be something new, something dynamic, something unique to my family," said Collins, who was born in a tiny Montana community near the Saskatchewan border.

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"You see, I grew up in a trailer, but in our nation, you're not defined by that. There are opportunities ahead of everybody," he said.

Former Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez departed Tallahassee earlier this year to take the job of president of Florida International University - just south of President Donald Trump's Doral resort.