Rep. Kevin Steele is preparing to enter the race for Florida CFO with a campaign kickoff targeted for Jan. 7 or 8 in Tampa, according to a text invitation shared with supporters.
The message urges backers to “gather as many friends and family as you can” for the launch, which is to feature U.S. Sen. Rick Scott as a special guest.
Steele’s team is finalizing a venue, with two options under consideration — Armature Works and the historic Columbia Restaurant — and more details expected soon.
Steele, a Republican from Dade City who has served in the House since 2022, is poised to enter a GOP Primary that already includes incumbent CFO Blaise Ingoglia, whom Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed last year after former CFO Jimmy Patronis ran successfully for a congressional seat.
Ingoglia, a former state Senator, party Chair and longtime political figure, launched his re-election bid in September and is already campaigning as the sitting officeholder.
Other active Republicans in the race include Sarasota Sen. Joe Gruters, who is also Chair of the Republican National Committee; property adjuster Frank Collige; and repeat state candidate Benjamin Horbowy.
Independent candidate John Daniel Smith has also filed for the contest.
Steele would enter the race after receiving encouragement to do so from Donald Trump’s team. He told Florida Politics Sept. 5 that his meeting with the President and Vice President JD Vance that week “made clear that Florida needs a CFO who won’t gamble with our future,” a shot at Ingoglia.
In addition to a hopeful Trump endorsement, Steele would likely run on his legislative record and financial-sector background. Before his election to the House, he worked in commercial insurance and later as a consultant, emphasizing risk-management and compliance — experience that aligns with the CFO’s oversight of insurance regulation, fraud investigations and the state Treasury.
In the Legislature, Steele represents House District 55, which spans parts of Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
As a lawmaker, he successfully carried measures to tighten restrictions on money service businesses, steepen penalties for defrauding vulnerable people, make it easier to remove squatters from residences and ban weather modification, among others.
For the 2026 Legislative Session, he has introduced measures to eliminate non-school and non-police property taxes for homesteads, restrict how local governments can charge for parking on public property and require state colleges to rename one roadway on their campus after late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
He’s also the current Vice Chair of the House Information Technology Budget and Policy Subcommittee and a member of the chamber’s Select Committee on Property Taxes.
A January kickoff would give Steele ample runway in what could become one of the more competitive statewide GOP Primaries of 2026. The CFO role, one of Florida’s four independently elected Cabinet positions, has grown in political visibility as the state confronts soaring property insurance rates, expanding fraud investigations and continued financial coordination with Washington.
Ingoglia has also worked to raise the office’s profile in recent months as Florida’s DOGE initiative continues to audit counties and cities for overspending, which the CFO’s Office says has uncovered $1.5 billion in waste — an assertion localities and analysts dispute.
The 2026 Primary Election is on Aug. 18, followed by the General Election on Nov. 3.
Florida Politics contacted Steele for comment, but did not receive a response by press time.