{"id":340267,"date":"2026-07-14T23:40:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340267\/"},"modified":"2026-07-14T23:40:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T23:40:22","slug":"florida-insurance-costs-rise-as-voters-say-the-issue-is-driving-them-to-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/340267\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida insurance costs rise as voters say the issue is driving them to polls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida insurance costs rise as voters say the issue is driving them to polls<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>LEE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014<\/p>\n

A new study by Insurify reveals that 65% of Florida respondents say rising insurance costs are making them more likely to vote, with the issue taking center stage in the governor’s race. <\/p>\n

“The only way our voice can be heard is through voting,” said Kristi Barton of LaBelle. <\/p>\n

Florida is the most expensive state for home insurance, with the average statewide policy costing $8,400, according to Insurify. <\/p>\n

Barton said, “It’s affecting people’s pockets now directly. As far as everyday living.” <\/p>\n

On the Gulf Coast, insurance rates average $5,000 or more. Judy Lennon of Fort Myers said other rising insurance costs are also influencing her decision to vote. <\/p>\n

“The car insurance have absolutely skyrocketed. This year, and I know I will definitely be going to the polls to add my vote,” Lennon said. <\/p>\n

The Insurify study highlights insurance affordability as a top issue in Florida’s governor’s race. Republican candidate Jay Collins said, “Insurance? Absolutely, we can save money. We have 17 insurance companies now and more coming in.” <\/p>\n

Another Republican candidate, James Fishback, said, “You have to stand up to the property insurers that are ripping people off.” <\/p>\n

Paul Renner, also a Republican candidate, said, “My plan as governor would be to reduce those rates by 10 to 20%.” <\/p>\n

Republican-turned-Democrat candidate David Jolly said, “I think voters across Florida are ready for a change.” <\/p>\n

With 29 candidates from both parties vying for the governor’s seat, voters are considering their options.<\/p>\n

When asked if she had decided on which candidate for governor she would vote for, Barton said, “I have not. I’m still weighing out the options.” <\/p>\n

As property taxes and insurance costs dominate the debate, the issue remains a key focus for candidates and voters alike.<\/p>\n

For a full list of gubernatorial candidates, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

DOWNLOAD\u202fthe free\u202fGulf Coast News app<\/a>\u202ffor your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app<\/a> to stream news, entertainment and original programming on your TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida insurance costs rise as voters say the issue is driving them to polls LEE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4320,56220,1813,104,28,94062,30,19052,139824,29,139825,22615,897,6281,36238,536,33090,139823,8280,70500,50735,139828,139822,9221,28912,5187,139827,29448,213,7381,22306,6874,7074,12667,139826,16663,24513,221],"class_list":["post-340267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-candidate","tag-car-insurance","tag-david-jolly","tag-entertainment","tag-florida","tag-florida-election","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-insurance","tag-florida-insurance-cost","tag-florida-news","tag-florida-respondent","tag-florida-voters","tag-fort-myers","tag-governor","tag-governor-race","tag-gulf-coast","tag-home-insurance","tag-insurance-affordability","tag-insurance-costs","tag-insurance-rate","tag-insurance-rates","tag-insurify","tag-insurify-study","tag-issue","tag-james-fishback","tag-jay-collins","tag-kristi-barton","tag-labelle","tag-late-news","tag-paul-renner","tag-poll","tag-property-insurance","tag-property-taxes","tag-race","tag-republican-candidate-jay-collins","tag-voter","tag-voter-turnout","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}