Both registered Democrats and Republicans will choose a candidate for the state's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in the Aug. 18 primary. The winner of each race will square off in the Nov. 3 general election for the chance to win the job.
The questions below are based on voter questions and expressed priorities. Each of the candidates within a race were asked the same questions and given the same amount of time to respond. The candidates’ answers were fact checked, checked for spelling and grammar but otherwise unedited.
Earl Forde, Democrat
Campaign website: EarleforCFO.com
Endorsement: Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Florida
Why do you deserve to elected in this race?
Leading the Florida Department of Financial Services requires deep financial expertise, strict accountability, and the discipline to protect taxpayer dollars. My career embodies these.
As an attorney who worked within the IRS Estate and Gift Tax Program, where I routinely audited trusts and estates well over $100M, I developed the forensic financial skills and legal skills required to navigate complex entities, while having a robust understanding of government. I have also been fortunate enough to spend time at the State Attorney’s Office, where I enforced the law and held bad actors accountable. Finally, my service as a U.S. Army paratrooper instilled the decisive leadership and values that is desperately needed in Tallahassee.
As a father of two, my mission is to ensure Florida’s economic foundation remains secure, transparent, and built to support the next generation. My belief is that my status as a non-career politician/candidate, my 15 years of professional experience allow me to truly comprehend the struggles of Floridians. I will bring the same tenacity to the investigation the insurance fraud, corruption, and financial crimes targeting vulnerable Floridians that I have during my career. I believe this skill set helps me ensure rigorous compliance and oversee Florida’s auditing functions with precision. ”
If elected, what are the most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?
Property Insurance (Maximize Transparency and Enforcement): Florida’s property insurance market is broken because Tallahassee has consistently allowed the insurance lobby to write the rules. We need a CFO who serves as a watchdog for working families, not a lapdog for industry. I would push to force insurers to open their books before they are granted any further rate hikes, demand complete transparency on claims data to aggressively investigate bad-faith denials, and ensure more oversight of affiliate profit shifting. While also pushing to expand consumer advocacy across the board.
However, the job of CFO is also to pursue aggressive enforcement of the law. We need to ruthlessly pursue the bad actors–fraudulent roofers, abusive litigators, and shady adjusters–who are also contributing to rising premiums for hardworking families. I would push to expand the resources of the DFS Criminal Investigations Division to increase arrest rates for insurance fraud.
Predatory Lending, Junk Fees, and Scams: Working Floridians are being squeezed by predatory financial practices. We need to aggressively expand the Office of Financial Regulation’s consumer protection mandate to crack down on undisclosed “”junk fees”” in banking, subscriptions, and loans. I would advocate for stricter caps on interest rates for payday loans and cash advances, which disproportionately trap low-income families and communities of color in endless cycles of debt.
This involves partnering with financial entities to counter scammers who disproportionately target older adults, the young, and those with limited financial resources, who are often subject to more risk.
Fair Lending and Economic Fairness: The Department of Financial Services must actively combat systemic financial discrimination. I would prioritize enforcing fair lending laws, specifically targeting modern-day redlining and algorithmic bias in mortgage lending and insurance underwriting. We must also actively support credit unions, minority-owned banks, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to ensure that capital flows equitably into historically underserved communities, giving more Floridians the opportunity to buy a home or start a business.
How would you go about educating Floridians?
Lack of transparency and accountability is driving Florida’s affordability crisis. By explaining the true hidden costs behind skyrocketing insurance premiums, we empower residents to see past industry spin and demand real legislative accountability. Under my watch, I want to give Floridians unprecedented access and encourage them to seek what is going on behind the scenes.
Teaching Floridians to spot financial fraud is accountability in action. When an educated public knows the red flags for contractor scams and predatory billing, they become our eyes and ears. This intelligence actively allows the state to hunt down, audit, and prosecute financial predators.
Ultimately, consumer education is the foundation of government accountability. We are giving you the tools to follow your money, while setting a strict, zero-tolerance standard for true waste, fraud, and abuse.
How would you go about rooting out fraud?
Insurance Fraud & Bad-Faith Practices: Florida’s property insurance crisis is the heaviest tax on working families, yet the state rarely investigates the industry itself. We need to investigate carrier insolvency, internal corporate fraud, and systemic third-party bad-faith practices aggressively. When insurance companies systematically underpay, delay, or deny legitimate homeowner claims to pad their bottom lines, that is fraud. Again, the CFO also acts as a referee, ensuring accountability works both ways by enforcing the law to ensure we have a fair system for everyone involved.
Annette Taddeo
Campaign website: annettetaddeo.com
Endorsements: Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, Senate Democratic Leader Tracie Davis, former CFO Alex Sink, former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and former U.S. Rep. Donna Shalala, state Sen. Mack Bernard, state Rep. Kevin Chambliss, state Rep. Ashley Gantt
Why do you deserve to elected in this race?
As a small business owner who has paid Florida’s skyrocketing insurance premiums for more than 30 years and served five years on the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, I understand the challenges Florida families and businesses face every day. In the Florida Senate, I earned a reputation for working across the aisle, holding our government accountable, and fighting for consumers when Floridians needed help, including during the collapse of Florida’s unemployment system during the pandemic. I will bring that same independent leadership to the Department of Financial Services as a watchdog for taxpayers and consumers.
If elected, what are the most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?
Florida’s regulations should protect consumers, not powerful interests. That starts with stronger oversight of the insurance industry to ensure homeowners are treated fairly, claims are handled promptly, and insurance companies are held accountable for their actions. As new technologies like artificial intelligence become more common, we also need safeguards to ensure important decisions aren’t made by algorithms without meaningful human review and a clear appeals process.
Just as importantly, Florida needs stronger accountability in government. The Department of Financial Services’ F.A.C.T.S. database was created so taxpayers can see how their money is being spent, yet too often contracts — including no-bid contracts — are kept out of public view by being classified as purchase orders. That’s not transparency. As CFO, I’ll enforce the law, ensure contracts are publicly accessible as intended, and shine a light on how taxpayer dollars are spent because accountability is the best safeguard against waste and corruption.”
How would you go about educating Floridians?
Floridians deserve to know they’re not on their own. The Department of Financial Services should empower people with clear, practical information about their insurance coverage, their financial rights, and where to turn if they need help. Too often, consumers feel like they’re fighting insurance companies or navigating government on their own. The CFO’s office should be their advocate.
My priorities are affordability, accountability, and anti-corruption. That means giving consumers the tools they need to make informed decisions, ensuring insurance companies play by the rules, and making government more transparent. Taxpayers should be able to easily see how their money is being spent through resources like the Department’s F.A.C.T.S. database, and there should be no hiding contracts or taxpayer spending behind loopholes. An informed public is one of the strongest safeguards against waste, abuse, and corruption.
How would you go about rooting out fraud?
Florida needs stronger oversight at the state level, especially when it comes to no-bid contracts and the misuse of taxpayer dollars. Too often, politically connected companies receive lucrative contracts with little public scrutiny, while required audits go undone and transparency laws are ignored. Taxpayers deserve to know who is receiving government contracts, how those contracts are awarded, and whether public dollars are being spent responsibly.
The diversion of Hope Florida funds and the billion dollars spent on Alligator Alcatraz underscore why independent oversight matters. As Chief Financial Officer, I will follow the money, enforce transparency through the Department’s F.A.C.T.S. database, conduct the audits required by law, and ensure every taxpayer dollar is spent in the best interest of Floridians — not political insiders.
Frank William Collige
Campaign website: frankforchange.com
Why do you deserve to elected in this race?
I am qualified to lead the Florida Department of Financial Services because I have spent my career protecting Floridians, not special interests. As a veteran of the United States Air Force, I learned leadership, accountability, and mission-focused decision-making under pressure. As a former Florida investigator, I understand how government operates, how regulations are enforced, and where oversight too often fails. As a Doctor of Business Administration and a successful business owner, I have experience managing budgets, leading organizations, and making difficult financial decisions. As a licensed public adjuster representing policyholders, I have worked directly with thousands of Florida families and businesses navigating insurance claims, giving me firsthand knowledge of the systemic problems driving our insurance crisis.
Unlike career politicians, I bring practical experience from both the public and private sectors. I understand insurance from the consumer’s perspective, financial accountability from the executive level, and government from the inside. My priorities are simple: restore transparency, conduct real audits instead of political spending reviews, eliminate waste, protect consumers, and ensure that every dollar entrusted to the Department is managed with integrity. The Department of Financial Services should work for the people of Florida, and that is exactly how I intend to lead it.
If elected, what are the most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?
Florida’s regulations should protect consumers while allowing businesses to compete and innovate. I believe the government should focus on fairly enforcing existing laws, increasing transparency, and holding bad actors accountable rather than creating unnecessary bureaucracy. In the insurance industry, we need stronger financial oversight, greater transparency in rate filings, meaningful audits when insurers seek rate increases, and stronger consumer protections. I also support modernizing financial crime investigations, improving fraud detection, and increasing public access to financial information so Floridians can see how their government spends taxpayer dollars.
In banking and other regulated industries, my priority is ensuring institutions remain financially sound, comply with the law, and protect consumers from fraud and deceptive practices. Regulations should be predictable, consistently enforced, and designed to encourage economic growth without sacrificing accountability. My goal as CFO will be to restore public confidence by making the Department of Financial Services a model of transparency, integrity, and responsible oversight.
How would you go about educating Floridians?
The state’s message should be simple: Insurance is a contract, not a favor. Know your rights before you need them. For too long, consumers have been told to “”trust the process,”” only to discover after a loss that they never understood their policy, the claims process, or their rights under Florida law. The Department of Financial Services should educate people before disaster strikes, not after.
Every homeowner should know how to read a declarations page, understand deductibles and exclusions, document property before a storm, avoid assignment and contractor scams, recognize claim delays and unfair settlement practices, and know exactly where to turn when an insurance company fails to honor its contractual obligations. Likewise, every Floridian should have access to practical education on fraud prevention, identity theft, financial planning, and avoiding investment scams.
An educated consumer is the strongest form of consumer protection. My goal is to make the Department of Financial Services the most transparent and educational agency in state government, giving Floridians the knowledge they need to protect their property, their finances, and their future, rather than leaving them dependent on insurance companies or government bureaucracies to explain their rights after it’s too late.
How would you go about rooting out fraud?
Fraud must be rooted out wherever it exists, regardless of who commits it. That includes individuals, contractors, healthcare providers, financial criminals, and insurance companies. Too often, the conversation focuses on one type of fraud while ignoring others. Floridians deserve equal enforcement under the law.
The area that deserves increased attention is insurance fraud at every level. We should aggressively investigate staged losses, fraudulent claims, contractor scams, and public corruption. At the same time, we must hold insurers accountable for fraud, financial misrepresentation, deceptive claim practices, and misconduct that shifts costs onto policyholders. Fraud is fraud, whether it is committed against an insurance company or by one.
As CFO, I will ensure the Department of Financial Services follows the evidence, not politics or special interests. The goal is simple. Protect honest Floridians, prosecute those who break the law, and restore confidence that our financial and insurance systems operate fairly, transparently, and with accountability.
Blaise Ingoglia (incumbent), Republican
Campaign website: blaiseforflorida.com
Endorsements: Statements of support include: the Republican Party of Florida; Americans for Prosperity
Blaise Ingoglia did not participate in this voter guide. What follows is a mix of information from his campaign website, public filings and news reporting (linked to original sources).
Why do you deserve to elected in this race?
Blaise Ingoglia is the incumbent Florida CFO. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Ingoglia to the open cabinet post in the summer of 2025. Ingoglia, a homebuilder from Hernando County, was serving in the Florida Senate at the time. He previously also served in the Florida House of Representatives and as the chair of the Republican Party of Florida. He’s been a close ally of Gov. DeSantis.
Ingoglia refers to himself as “a conservative pitbull” and a “MAGA businessman.” He lists his three main priorities as 1) Property tax relief, 2) Holding local governments accountable, and 3) Pushing down property insurance rates.
Since taking on the role of CFO, he has toured the state, targeting what he calls excessive spending by local governments across the peninsula, part of his push for a constitutional amendment that would phase out most local property taxes.
As a lawmaker in the Florida Legislature, Ingoglia also pushed for reform meant to lower property insurance costs for homeowners by cutting down on frivolous lawsuits that line the pockets of “bad actors” in the insurance industry.
If elected, what are the most pressing problems you want to address, and what do you suggest to solve them?
Blaise Ingoglia lists property insurance reform among his top priorities. “So far as CFO, Blaise has helped to levy millions of dollars in fines to insurance companies for not doing what they are supposed to be doing, protecting homeowners,” according to his campaign website.
How would you go about educating Floridians?
No answer.
How would you go about rooting out fraud?
“We need to hold the insurance companies accountable to do what they say that they are going to do, what they are contractually obligated to pay, because if they don’t they’re going to get fined,” he said while launching his campaign in September of 2025. “I am not here to protect the profits of insurance companies. I am not here to protect the profits of trial attorneys. What I am here to do is protect you, the policyholders, and I will continue do that.”
