Annette Taddeo, a Democrat and former state senator, is running for Florida chief financial officer in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. She faces Republican incumbent 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. As a small business owner and a mother, I pay Florida's rising costs too. 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

Family: Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "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."

Personal history: Taddeo was born on April 7, 1967, in Barrancabermeja, Colombia, to an Italian-American father and a Colombian mother, according to Wikipedia. She said in our questionnaire: "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."

Education: Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "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."

Business: Taddeo founded LanguageSpeak in 1995, a language services company recognized as one of Florida's Top 100 Small Businesses and one of the nation's Top 500 Small Businesses, according to Sparker's Soapbox.

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."

Taddeo chaired the Miami-Dade Democratic Party in 2012 and was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2014, according to Wikipedia.

On the issues

Property insurance: Asked what she would do about insurance costs, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "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 "send storm strike teams from my department into hit communities within 3 to 5 days to help families push stalled claims."

Government transparency: On how she would let Floridians see how tax dollars are spent, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "Every state contract posted in the public FACTS database, as Florida law already requires. No exceptions, no hiding." She said "hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency contracts, including no-bid deals, are still missing from it."

Taddeo said she would "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."

Key accomplishments: Asked to cite evidence she can handle the job, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "I helped bring to justice one of the largest HOA frauds in American history, at the Hammocks in my district. I spent years helping homeowners gather records and find the courage to go to the State Attorney … The result: guilty pleas in an $11 million theft and a new state law for homeowners."

Endorsements: Taddeo's endorsements include Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Joint Council 75, the AFL-CIO, Equality Florida Action PAC, Ruth's List Florida and the National Education Association, according to Florida Politics and BallotReady.