Wife of DeSantis ally rakes in money for Hillsborough schools race

As expected, the Hillsborough County School Board campaign of Layla Collins, wife of Republican state Sen. Jay Collins, is getting big contributions from Republicans, GOP-oriented political committees and private school interests.

Collins is challenging board chairperson Nadia Combs in District 1 to represent northwest Hillsborough. The race is non-partisan but Combs has been supported by Democrats and is one of four Tampa Bay area school board members Gov. Ron DeSantis has targeted for defeat.

Collins’s husband, meanwhile, is a protégé of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who heavily supported his 2022 Senate race.

Layla Collins reported raising $36,911 in her first six weeks as a candidate, through Sept. 30, according to campaign finance reports. Combs filed Aug. 25 but had not yet begun active fundraising through September, the reports indicate.

Layla Collins’s campaign received dozens of contributions, nearly all for the legal maximum $1,000, from Republican officeholders, political operatives, Tallahassee lobbyists and GOP-oriented political committees. She also got $2,000 from Chris and Bernadette Pello of Brandon, who operate private schools, both for-profit and non-profit, and an education management service.

Meanwhile, Jay Collins’s political committee was also raising money, even though he’s not up for re-election until 2026. It pulled in $107,094 in July, August and September, most of it from Tallahassee lobbyists and political committees.

Combs has said she expects GOP interests to spend heavily to defeat her.

Layla Collins didn’t respond to phone and Facebook messages for comment.

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