Florida's Chief Financial Officer Race Is Tied at 43 Percent as Election Day Nears

Florida voters will choose the state's next chief financial officer on Tuesday, and the race is a tie. A recent statewide poll by the Tallahassee-based James Madison Institute found Republican incumbent Blaise Ingoglia and Democratic challenger Annette Taddeo deadlocked at 43 percent apiece, with 10 percent of voters undecided, USA TODAY Network-Florida reported.

The office reaches further into daily life than its name suggests. According to the Florida Department of Financial Services, the CFO manages the state's finances and works on fraud and financial transparency; the CFO also serves as State Fire Marshal, sits on the Florida Cabinet alongside the governor, attorney general and agriculture commissioner, and stands third in line to fill the governorship if the need arises. Ingoglia, a former state senator from Spring Hill, was appointed to the job by Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 21, 2025, after Jimmy Patronis stepped down to join Congress. Taddeo, a former state senator from Miami, became the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida Senate in 2017.

The closing argument between the two campaigns is about insurance and oversight. Taddeo has accused Ingoglia of accepting campaign contributions from developers tied to proposed data centers — both candidates say they oppose such centers — and has argued that the CFO's office should track more closely where insurance company money goes, while pledging insurer report cards and post-storm claims strike teams if she wins. Ingoglia has answered that his office has fined insurers and pursued fraud arrests, and has accused Taddeo of backing proposals he says would raise premiums. The accusations are campaign charges, not findings, and Southwest Florida voters — in one of the country's most expensive home-insurance markets — will weigh them on Tuesday.