Age
40
Education
B.A. - University of Wyoming / J.D. - Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law
Hometown
Tampa
County
Hillsborough
Instagram
EarleFordFL
LinkedIn
Earle Ford
Campaign Phone
754-300-7988
I am running for Chief Financial Officer to bring true accountability back to Florida’s finances and to stand as a watchdog for working families. Serving as a U.S. Army paratrooper taught me the meaning of duty,my time as a prosecutor and an IRS lawyer auditing the ultra-wealthy has prepared me to take on powerful, entrenched interests, while also having a fundamental understanding of how government should operate.
The two most compelling issues where I can make an immediate difference are reforming our broken property insurance market to protect consumers from bad-faith practices, and ruthlessly rooting out government corruption, waste, and financial fraud that preys on vulnerable Floridians.
Florida requires proactive, pragmatic resilience. To stabilize the market against environmental disasters, we must enforce stricter building codes and invest heavily in infrastructure resilience—particularly coastal and flood mitigation—to reduce the underlying risk. Stabilization means demanding transparent, risk-based modeling from insurers. This also means robust enforcement of third - party contractors and maximizing transparency in all situations to protect all parties involved. We cannot permit companies to blindly shift the costs of environmental risks to everyday Floridians while evading their own financial obligations when a disaster occurs.
This crisis is driven by a lack of strict regulatory oversight, unchecked corporate greed, lack of aggressive enforcement of third parties, and the escalating severity of natural disasters. Too many insurers are prioritizing profits over policyholders, resulting in exorbitant rate hikes and bad-faith claim denials. However, this is not only the insurers; my job as CFO is also to ensure consumers and contractors are operating transparently and ethically to ensure companies are protected as well.
As CFO, I will prioritize consumer protection. I plan to launch aggressive audits of insurance companies, contractors, abusive litigation, investigate unjustifiable rate hikes, and ensure that providers operating in Florida actually fulfill their legal obligations to policyholders. If a company denies legitimate claims to line its pockets, the company will face accountability.
Florida must base its investment priorities entirely on fiscal responsibility, long-term stability, and securing the financial future of our communities, which includes robust, reliable pension management. Our investments should focus on infrastructure, education, and resilience projects that yield tangible economic returns.
Fiduciary duty and objective data, not partisan gridlock, must guide financial decisions. The financial health of the state and protecting taxpayers must always take precedence over using public funds to wage political or social battles.
The greatest immediate risk to Florida’s economy is the potential collapse of the property insurance market coupled with the economic fallout from severe environmental events. Families and businesses being priced out of insuring their properties will stifle real estate growth and cripple local economies. Additionally, lack of transparency and unchecked financial fraud threaten to drain the public resources we desperately need to build a sustainable, resilient economy for the future.
While both require stringent oversight, auditing state agencies must be the highest priority. State agencies manage the vast majority of taxpayer funds and set the fiscal standard for the entire state. Accountability has to start at the top. By ensuring that state funds are completely free from fraud, waste, and abuse, we establish the blueprint, precedent, and resources necessary to hold local municipalities to the same standard.
I will, however, note that it is important to respect the authority of local governments. They understand their communities better than anyone in Tallahassee, and they are also easier for their residents to hold accountable. Florida is a very large state, and cities need the flexibility and have the expertise to understand their particular situation.
Florida's natural resources protect our economy and our way of life. As a father raising two sons here, I want them to inherit the same unique environment that makes this state great. My core belief is that we should act early to preserve the environment. We must fully fund and fiercely protect initiatives like the Florida Forever program, safeguarding our state parks and coastal areas from overdevelopment. Conservation isn't just about environmental stewardship; it is a critical component of our state's infrastructure resilience against flooding and storms.
Age
59
Education
University of North Alabama - Bachelor's Degree, Dartmouth Tuck School of Business - Executive Education
Hometown
Miami, FL
County
Miami-Dade
Instagram
@Annette_Taddeo
LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com/in/annettetaddeo/
I am running for Chief Financial Officer because Florida families deserve a CFO who will fight for them. The CFO should be an independent watchdog for consumers and taxpayers – not a lapdog for the governor or anyone else. The two most compelling issues facing Floridians are affordability and anti-corruption. The CFO has direct regulatory oversight over the insurance industry, yet homeowners are being crushed by rising insurance costs while the government looks the other way. The insurance industry has more sway in the CFO’s office than the voters. As CFO I will hold insurers accountable and demand transparency. And Tallahassee’s culture of pay-to-play politics has eroded public trust. The cost of corruption to the Florida taxpayer is too high and getting higher. I will crack down on corruption, enforce transparency laws, audit no-bid contracts as required by law, and put Floridians – not political insiders – first.
Florida’s insurance market is failing homeowners and businesses when they need it most – after a hurricane, a flood, or a fire. Insurers file for rate increases claiming losses, while funneling profits to affiliated companies hidden from regulators. Florida’s own Office of Insurance Regulation commissioned a report proving it – and buried it. As CFO, I will demand full transparency and expose the affiliate arrangements insurers use to hide profits while charging Floridians the highest premiums in the nation. Stabilizing the market also requires protecting the resources Florida needs when disaster strikes. The same emergency fund that should be there for the next hurricane was drained to spend $1.2 billion on Alligator Alcatraz – over $1 million a day, twenty times more than most other detention facilities. No-bid contracts, no audits, no accountability. As CFO I will ensure Florida’s emergency fund is protected for actual emergencies, not political stunts.
Florida’s property insurance crisis has one root cause: a system rigged to protect carriers over consumers. Insurers claim losses to justify rate increases while funneling billions to their affiliated companies. Florida’s own regulator commissioned a report proving it – and buried it rather than share it with lawmakers. Floridians have been paying for a lie.
As a five-year member of the Florida Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, I saw firsthand how the system is failing consumers – and as CFO, I will put consumers first. I will demand full transparency in the affiliate arrangements insurers use to hide profits, strengthen oversight, aggressively enforce consumer protections, and increase competition so homeowners get the coverage they pay for. The politicians in Tallahassee who are supposed to hold insurers accountable have looked the other way. I will not.
Florida’s investment priorities should serve one master: the long-term financial security of Florida families and taxpayers. That means investing state funds to maximize returns, protect pensions, and build fiscal resilience – not to advance any political agenda, left or right. The CFO oversees billions in state investments and has a fiduciary duty to put Floridians first. That duty is being violated when state funds are used as political weapons – like Hope Florida funds diverted from sick children to pay for political advertising. That is not fiscal management. That is corruption. I have stood up to my own party when Floridians’ interests demanded it. I will apply that same independence to every investment decision – grounded in data and fiduciary responsibility. The moment we start using public funds as political leverage – in any direction – we put Florida families at risk.
Florida’s economy faces three significant risks. First, the housing and affordability crisis. Florida families and workers are being priced out of the state. Businesses cannot find workers because people cannot afford to live here. As a small business owner, I have lived this firsthand. Second, corruption and the erosion of public trust. When billions flow through no-bid contracts with no audits, when Hope Florida funds meant for sick children get diverted to political ad campaigns, and when those charged with oversight look the other way – Florida families lose faith. An economy cannot thrive without trust, and right now that trust is broken. Third, one-party rule with no checks and balances. When the CFO acts as a guard dog for the governor instead of a watchdog for taxpayers, no one is asking the hard questions. That is how economies fail. As CFO I will be the independent check this state desperately needs.
State agencies – without question. The CFO has a legal obligation to audit state agencies, and right now that obligation is not being met. The current CFO created FAFO to target Democratic-led local governments while ignoring his own legal obligations – auditing no-bid contracts and publishing all contracts on the FACTS database as required by Florida Statutes. That is pure politics. The biggest concentrations of state dollars – and the biggest opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse – are at the state level. Billion-dollar no-bid contracts, Hope Florida funds diverted from sick children, emergency funds drained for political projects – none of that happened at the local level. It happened in Tallahassee, under this unelected CFO who would rather play politics than do his job. As CFO I will prioritize auditing state agencies first. Every audit will be professional, objective, and without partisan favoritism. Accountability means everyone – including the governor’s office.
Florida’s 12 million acres of public lands are a public trust – not a political asset. I believe in fully funding Florida Forever, protecting state parks from development pressure, and preserving our coastal areas and Everglades for future generations.
As a State Senator I fought to protect Florida’s springs from corporate water extraction, championed Everglades restoration funding, supported the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, and worked to ban fracking statewide. Florida’s natural environment is not just our heritage – it is the foundation of our economy, our tourism industry, and our quality of life.
As a Cabinet member and Board of Trustee I will vote to protect public lands, oppose any effort to privatize or develop Florida’s natural resources, and ensure that conservation decisions are made in the long-term interest of Floridians – not developers or political donors.
