Annette Taddeo, a Democrat, is running for Florida chief financial officer in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, general election against Republican Blaise Ingoglia.

Asked why she is running, Taddeo said in our candidate questionnaire: "Florida families are paying more for everything while Tallahassee looks the other way. … Homeowners are being crushed by the highest insurance rates in the nation, while insiders get billion-dollar no-bid contracts that have never been audited."

She added: "Florida needs a CFO who is a watchdog, not a lapdog."

Candidate information

Party: Democrat

Occupation and work history: "I am a small business owner. For more than 30 years, I have run LanguageSpeak, a Florida language services company, creating jobs and meeting a payroll. I worked my way through university, moved to Florida in 1992, and built my business here while raising my family," Taddeo said in our questionnaire.

Education: "I worked as a waitress to put myself through the University of North Alabama, where I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Commercial Spanish/Business Administration. I later earned two executive education scholarships to the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business, where I completed an Executive Education program and an Advanced Executive Education program," she said.

Family: "When I was 17, my father, an American fighter pilot, was kidnapped by FARC guerrillas in Colombia. That experience brought me to the United States. … My husband, Eric, and I live in Miami with my mom, Elizabeth, and our dogs, Snow and Mocha. Our daughter, Sofia, is away at university in Boston."

Experience and public service

Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "I was elected to the Florida Senate in a 2017 special election, flipping a Republican-held seat, and was reelected to a full four-year term in 2018 by six points. I was the first Latina Democrat ever elected to the Florida Senate."

She said she "served five years on the Banking and Insurance Committee, where I fought for the state to fund a study of the 'affiliate' companies insurers use to move profits, and fought the insurance bailout bills."

On the issues

Insurance: Asked what she would do about property insurance costs, Taddeo said: "I will publish a report card grading every insurance company within my first 100 days: how fast it pays claims, how often it delays or denies, how much of your premium goes to its own affiliates, and how financially sound it is. Every company, by name."

She said she would also "send storm strike teams from my department into hit communities within 3 to 5 days to help families push stalled claims."

Government transparency: "Florida Statutes also require an audit of emergency spending once an emergency lasts more than a year. That audit has not happened," Taddeo said. "As CFO, I will get every contract into FACTS, audit emergency spending starting with the $1.2 billion spent on Alligator Alcatraz, publish what I find in plain language, and refer fraud or abuse for prosecution."

Differences from opponent: Taddeo said her opponent "has taken a quarter million dollars from insurance interests and voted for a $3 billion tax handout to insurance companies while Floridians pay the highest rates in the nation."

She added: "I bring something different: 30 years running a Florida small business, five years on the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, and independence."