Democrat Annette Taddeo is running for Florida chief financial officer against Republican Blaise Ingoglia in the Nov. 3 general election.

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."

Candidate information

Party: Democrat

Residence: Miami

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."

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."

Occupation: Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "I am a small business owner. For more than 30 years, I have run LanguageSpeak, a Florida language services company, creating jobs and meeting a payroll."

Taddeo won the Democratic primary on Aug. 18, defeating Earle Ford, according to Florida Politics.

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. I 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."

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. After a hurricane, I will send storm strike teams from my department into hit communities within 3 to 5 days to help families push stalled claims."

Government transparency: Asked about a specific change she would make, Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "Every state contract posted in the public FACTS database, as Florida law already requires. No exceptions, no hiding. FACTS is run by the CFO's own department, yet hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency contracts, including no-bid deals, are still missing from it. … As CFO, I will get every contract into FACTS, 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 differences with opponent: Taddeo said in our questionnaire: "My opponent was appointed and has never been elected to this office. He has taken a quarter million dollars from insurance interests and voted for a $3 billion tax handout to insurance companies while Floridians pay the highest rates in the nation. I bring something different: 30 years running a Florida small business, five years on the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, and independence."