TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida voters will choose a Republican and Democratic candidate for state chief financial officer in Tuesday’s primary, setting up a general election matchup for one of the state cabinet’s offices.
The CFO oversees insurance, audits and serves as Florida’s state fire marshal.
Current CFO Blaise Ingoglia is seeking to remain in the position but faces a Republican primary challenge from Dr. Frank Collige.
Ingoglia has held the office since Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him last year after former CFO Jimmy Patronis left the position to run for Congress.
During his time in office, Ingoglia has announced audits, immigration enforcement funding and overseen the state’s fire marshals.
He declined to be interviewed for this story but has previously discussed his approach to local government spending.
“There’s more than enough for (school districts) to cut the administrative costs, deliver a world-class education and still give teachers raises,” he said in May.
On hurricanes, Ingoglia said the state spends a lot of money on rebuilding, but might be able to spend more on prevention.
“We spend a lot of time a lot of money and a lot of resources after a storm putting our community back together… I think we need to start taking a more proactive role to this,” Ingoglia said earlier this year.
Florida Politics
Collige said he remained in the race because he believes Florida’s government is on the side of insurance companies, not the consumers.
“I got sick and tired of insurance companies taking advantage of Floridians and no one in Tallahassee is willing to step up and fight them,” Collige said.
He added that he would also enlist journalists and government watchers to keep governments in check.
“I’ve been calling this out from day one. Make every jurisdiction report their budget line by line and then make it public and let us, the people, audit our elected officials,” Collige said.
Two democrats are also competing for their party’s nomination: former state sen. Annette Taddeo and her opponent Earle Ford.
Both democratic candidates have called for investigations into “no-bid” state contracts, including those involving Alligator Alcatraz and Hope Florida.
Taddeo said her experience as a former state senator sets her apart in the race.
“No audits. What? That is in statute. That is in law. That is something that automatically you are supposed to do,” Taddeo said.
She said those “no-bid” contracts must be investigated.
“And we have seen where the CFO is responsible for doing audits on no bid contracts with emergency spending. And he just looks the other way,” said Taddeo.
Ford, meanwhile, said his background in government service, not politics.
“So not only did the IRS give me legal experience, but also financial experience. And these things are not popular when you hear talk about audits, but ultimately the unique thing about the CFO position is it’s almost a nonpartisan type position,” Ford said.
He said his previous military service means he can connect with everyone, even those in conservative counties.
“We don’t even know why the other stuff is lurking there, and obviously doing a deep dive in the financials of how the state’s spending their money. But also at the end of the day, it’s about standing on the side of the average Floridian,” Ford said.
One republican and one democrat will emerge from Tuesday’s primary and advance to the general election, where they will compete for the CFO position.
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