Democrats get into the Chief Financial Officer race

The Florida Democratic Party now has some competition in the race to produce a challenger to Republican Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia in November.

Former Miami-Dade County Democratic state Sen. Annette Taddeo announced her candidacy on Monday.

“Florida families are getting crushed. Your homeowner’s insurance bill doubled. Then tripled. And the politicians in Tallahassee? They turned a blind eye — or made it worse,” Taddeo said in her launch video.

“I’ve spent my career fighting the establishment when it wasn’t easy and standing up to the powerful when it wasn’t popular. Florida families deserve a CFO who works for you — not the insurance companies, not the insiders, not the status quo.”

If elected, Tadeo said, she’ll focus on protecting consumers, increasing transparency in state government, rooting out waste and abuse, and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.

The CFO oversees the state’s finances, serves as Florida fire marshall, and sits on the Florida Cabinet, which with the governor oversees a range of state agencies. The office also supervises the insurance market.

Taddeo ran as Charlie Crist’s running mate for lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket that lost to Rick Scott in 2014 by a single percentage point. She went on win a special election for a state Senate seat in 2017 and served until 2022.

She then initially filed to run in the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022, but stepped away from that race to become the Democratic nominee for Congress in Florida’s 27th Congressional District, which she lost to Republican Maria Salazar by 14 points, 57%-43%.

In 2024, Taddeo lost by 11 points in a bid to become Miami-Dade Circuit Court Clerk and Comptroller.

In a statement released Friday, the Republican Party of Florida noted some of her electoral losses and labeled her one of Florida’s “most perennial political candidates.”

“At a time when Republicans hold a voter registration advantage of more than 1.5 million voters, Democrats aren’t offering a new vision for Florida,” said Republican Party of Florida chair Evan Power. “Instead, they’re doubling down on a career politician who has spent years promoting the same radical tax-and-spend policies that Florida voters have rejected election after election.

The primary

Taddeo isn’t the only Democrat in the race.

Last month, Earle Ford, a U.S. Army veteran and IRS investigator, dropped out of the Democratic primary in Florida’s 13th Congressional District in Pinellas County and declared his candidacy for CFO.

“As a U.S. Army Airborne Infantryman, State Prosecutor, and Federal Watchdog at the IRS, I have spent my life holding powerful interests accountable and standing up for people who too often gets left behind,” Ford said in a written statement on May 21.

“Now, I look forward to bringing that same accountability, balance and backbone to Tallahassee. On Day One, I will use my experience to tackle Florida’s insurance crisis, root out corruption, protect taxpayer dollars, and maximize transparency so Floridians can trust their money is being spent wisely and their government is working for them.”

Ingoglia was appointed CFO by Gov. DeSantis last July and announced his candidacy for election in Tampa in September. He has raised more than $981,000 in his regular campaign account for CFO and has more than $4 million in a separate political committee account.