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.
Republican CFO candidates
The Republican CFO primary is a statewide race open to all registered Republicans 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
- Acting 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.
Frank William Collige
WEBSITE: www.frankforchange.com/
Why are you qualified to lead the Florida Department of Financial Services?
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.
What changes, if any, do you think are needed in Florida’s regulations on banking and other industries? 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.
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? 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.
What area is in the most need of increased attention when it comes to 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
WEBSITE: blaiseforflorida.com/
NOTE: 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 are you qualified to lead the Florida Department of Financial Services?
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.
What changes, if any, do you think are needed in Florida’s regulations on banking and other industries? 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.
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? No answer.
What area is in the most need of increased attention when it comes to 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.”