As part of our commitment to providing you with what you need to make an informed decision in the 2026 elections, News 6 joined with the News Collaborative of Central Florida to present the Voting Central Florida 2026 Voter’s Guide.
Tuesday, Aug. 18 is the Florida Statewide Primary election, a mix of party primaries and nonpartisan local elections, such as school board races, judicial races, and county commission races in some counties.
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[ELECTION 2026: Make sure you’re eligible to vote|How to vote by mail|Election Myths]
Florida has a closed primary system, which means only members of a political party may vote in party primaries. To be eligible, a voter had to identify with that party by July 20.
However, judicial races and local races, for the most part, are open to all registered voters, regardless of political party.
Everything you need to know in order to vote in the Aug. 18 Statewide Primary, including how to vote by mail, vote early, and vote on Election Day, can be found in our Election 2026 section HERE.
Democratic CFO candidates
The Democratic CFO primary is a statewide race open to all registered Democrats in Florida to decide who will represent the party in the November general election.
The CFO has a large number of duties:
- Managing the state’s finances and collecting state taxes
- Running auditing agencies
- Overseeing insurance regulations
- Overseeing fraud investigations
- Acts as State Fire Marshal
- Overseeing funeral and cemetery services
- Overseeing workers’ compensation
Go to MyFloridaCFO.com to learn about the office and the agencies under it.
The News Collaborative of Central Florida created a list of common questions to ask the candidates. Questionnaires were sent to all candidates. Where possible, for candidates who did not respond, our collaborative partners sought to fill in details.
Our News Collaborative partners at Central Florida Public Media compiled the candidate responses for the Florida CFO race.
You can also see the full Central Florida Public Media Voting Guide HERE.
Earle Ford
WEBSITE: earleforcfo.com/
Why are you qualified to lead the Florida Department of Financial Services? 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 are 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.
What changes, if any, do you think are needed in Florida’s regulations on banking and other industries?
1) 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.
2) 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.
3) 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.
What is the main message you would like to see the state communicate to Florida residents when it comes to educating them on insurance or other financial topics? 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.
What area is in the most need of increased attention when it comes to 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
WEBSITE: annettetaddeo.com/
Why are you qualified to lead the Florida Department of Financial Services? 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.
What changes, if any, do you think are needed in Florida’s regulations on banking and other industries? 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.
What is the main message you would like to see the state communicate to Florida residents when it comes to educating them on insurance or other financial topics? 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.
What area is in the most need of increased attention when it comes to 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.