Ingoglia eyes local spending, insurance

Tallahassee - A staunch political ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, Blaise Ingoglia was sworn in Monday as Florida's chief financial officer, vowing to focus on local-government spending and insurance companies.

By Jim Turner

Ingoglia, a homebuilder from Spring Hill and a state legislator since 2014, also tried to stay away from talk of a 2026 Republican primary contest for CFO. Ingoglia is expected to face state Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican who has drawn support from President Donald Trump.

"There's going to be plenty of time to campaign," Ingoglia told reporters after the swearing-in ceremony in the Capitol's Cabinet meeting room. "My job right now is to make sure that I get in there and do the best possible job as I can."

Gruters and Ingoglia are past chairmen of the Republican Party of Florida and served together in the state House and Senate. DeSantis last week announced he was appointing Ingoglia to replace former CFO Jimmy Patronis, who won a special election this spring for a congressional seat.

DeSantis and Ingoglia said a top priority for the new CFO will be audits of local-government spending. The focus on such spending comes amid a push by DeSantis to ask voters in 2026 to reduce or eliminate taxes on homesteaded properties. Local governments rely heavily on property taxes.

"The CFO has had longstanding authority to audit any entity that receives any state funding, which is pretty much any municipal and county government," DeSantis said during the ceremony. "And so, you are going to see these audits commence very quickly."

In addition to local government audits, Ingoglia said he will focus on ensuring insurance companies follow requirements.

"If they're slowing stuff, we're going to have conversations with them," Ingoglia said. "I'm not going to sit back. I'm not going to allow anyone to game the system, whether it is on one side or the other side, whether it is trial attorneys gaming the system or insurance companies gaming the system."

Critics have accused some property insurers of not properly paying claims and have raised questions about carriers sending money to shareholders and affiliated companies while seeking rate increases.

In his remarks during Monday's ceremony, Ingoglia called the appointment to the Cabinet post an "honor that has been bestowed upon me."

"I will not take this for granted," Ingoglia said. "You are not going to see anyone fight harder for the taxpayer, for the consumer than I will. And I plan to hit the ground running."

But House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, questioned whether Ingoglia will put DeSantis' interests before the state and cited a controversial immigrant-detention center — dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz" — the state has started operating in the Everglades.

"I believe Blaise Ingoglia will talk tough but continue the tradition of giving the insurance companies everything they ask for while Florida's working families and seniors pay the price," Driskell said in a statement. "Ingoglia said he wants to fight wasteful spending, but last weekend he was gleefully cheerleading the governor's $450 million Everglades detention camp."

Ingoglia was first elected to the House in 2014 before moving to the Senate in 2016. Former Rep. Ralph Massullo, R-Lecanto, has quickly received endorsements to replace Ingoglia in Senate District 11, which represents Citrus, Hernando and Sumter counties and part of Pasco County. DeSantis will have to call for a special election in the district.

Voters established the CFO position in 1998 by approving a constitutional amendment that combined the former positions of comptroller and insurance commissioner. The CFO, in part, oversees the state Department of Financial Services.

Susan Miller, who was Patronis' chief of staff, had been the interim leader of the Department of Financial Services.

Ingoglia became the second DeSantis appointee to hold one of the three elected Cabinet offices.

In February, DeSantis named James Uthmeier to serve as attorney general, after the governor appointed former Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate. Uthmeier had served as DeSantis' chief of staff.

DeSantis and the Cabinet — Ingoglia, Uthmeier and Agriculture Secretary Wilton Simpson — are scheduled to meet by phone Tuesday in their role as the State Board of Immigration Enforcement.