Fishback calls for Lt. Gov. Jay Collins to resign

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) - Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback called for Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins to resign following a legal spat aimed at getting Fishback removed from the primary ballot.

In a Tuesday press conference, Fishback said Collins’s lawsuit, which claimed Fishback did not meet the 7-year residency requirement for governor candidacy, was “disgraceful.”

“I am calling on Jay Collins to resign from the lieutenant governorship effective immediately,” Fishback said. “Jay, I respect your service to this country, 23 years in the United States Army, thank you for that. But, I have to be honest with you. You wasted the court’s time.”

A Leon County Circuit Judge ruled on Monday that Fishback would stay on the ballot. That ruling says Fishback did not intend to leave Florida permanently, despite Fishback admitting to voting in DC.

“This was not about election integrity. This was about rigging an election against a surging campaign in the final weeks before the election day on August 18,” Fishback said.

Florida politics:

Fishback took particular aim at Collins’s use of Florida’s “Matching Funds Program.” Under that program, a candidate for governor can receive taxpayer dollars to partially fund their campaign if they themselves raise at least $150,000 and limit self-serving loans.

Fishback claims Collins took about $118,000 in public matching funds to run his campaign and alleges some of that money went to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for the Collins campaign said they don’t have a response at this time, but an advisor posted on social media that the lieutenant governor wouldn’t resign and that Fishback violated mortgage laws by claiming two primary homes.

“Not only will this never happen, we didn’t waste any time,” John Cordillo posted on X. “We showed the world that Fishback is a serial liar who violated multiple federal laws in Washington D.C.”

Political science professor Susan MacManus says this back and forth has been a missed opportunity to share a story of the future instead of the past.

“He missed a golden opportunity to say, ‘Look, I won a major battle here and here’s what I’ve got planned for Florida. Republicans, please pay attention to me,’” MacManus said. “Instead of immediately trying to get tit for tat and try to say, ‘Well, I’m better than you. I won the court case.”

Byron Donalds is still way out in front of both Fishback and Collins in the polls, but MacManus says upsets can happen, especially if the primary has a stronger than expected turn out.

“It’s a very, very difficult thing. There can always be upsets, but it would truly be an incredible upset should Donalds not get the nomination,” MacManus said.

Election day is scheduled for August 18. Many vote by mail ballots have already been sent, and early voting will begin no later than August 8 in all jurisdictions.

The primary election narrows which candidates will move onto the November general election, where many more voters are expected to go to the polls.