Democrat Annette Taddeo is set to challenge Republican Blaise Ingoglia for Florida’s Chief Financial Officer position in the November 3 general election, following her Democratic primary victory on August 18, 2026.
Taddeo, 59, a former Miami-Dade County state senator, defeated Earle Ford in today’s Democratic primary. She will face Ingoglia, the Republican incumbent who was appointed to the CFO role by Governor Ron DeSantis in July 2025.
Ingoglia also won his Republican primary today, defeating challenger Frank Collige. The appointment came after Jimmy Patronis, the previous CFO, resigned from the position.
Taddeo has made government accountability a central theme of her campaign. She has criticized Ingoglia’s high-profile audits of local government spending, arguing he should focus more on state-level expenditures and questioned why he isn’t examining what she calls wasteful state spending, including the immigration detention facility known as Alligator Alcatraz that recently shut down.
The CFO position is one of three Cabinet seats in Florida state government, alongside the attorney general and agriculture commissioner. The office heads the Department of Financial Services, which includes the Office of Insurance Regulation and the Office of Financial Regulation, giving it significant oversight of the state’s insurance and financial services industries.
In the 2022 general election for CFO, Republican Jimmy Patronis won with 59.5 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat Adam Hattersley. The last Democrat to hold the office was Alex Sink, who served from 2007 to 2011. Taddeo’s path to the general election was strengthened by endorsements from labor unions and local Democratic leaders including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.
Taddeo previously made history in 2017 as the first Latina Democrat elected to the Florida State Senate, winning a special election in a Trump-leaning district. She has also run statewide before, serving as Charlie Crist’s running mate on the 2014 gubernatorial ticket, which lost by a single point to Rick Scott.
Sources
- Florida Phoenix — Democratic primary candidates’ backgrounds, positions on insurance and property tax issues, and the CFO office’s role
- Ballotpedia — Candidate information, primary dates, and election details
- Official CFO Press Release — Blaise Ingoglia’s appointment and swearing-in by DeSantis in July 2025
- WCTV News — Republican and Democratic primary race details and candidate information
- Miami Herald — Campaign finance and candidate background information
