After weeks of speculation, state Rep. Kevin Steele, R-Dade City, on Tuesday announced a 2026 campaign for Florida chief financial officer, setting up a Republican primary fight with incumbent CFO Blaise Ingoglia.
Steele’s announcement that he would run for the Cabinet office included an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a former governor. Meanwhile, Ingoglia, a former state senator, was appointed CFO this summer by Gov. Ron DeSantis and has helped take the lead on DeSantis’ push to lower property taxes.
Steele, who founded DataLink Software, a Tampa-based health-care technology company, and has been the wealthiest state lawmaker since he was first elected in 2022, said in announcing his candidacy that his priorities include addressing affordability issues, with an emphasis on property insurance, and reducing government spending.
“I’ve spent my career building companies from the ground up, fixing broken systems, and getting results,” Steele said in a statement. “I’ll bring that same America First, results-driven mindset to protect taxpayers and make Florida more affordable and stronger than ever.”
Ingoglia’s campaign suggested Steele was seeking to “buy a seat on Florida’s Cabinet.”
“Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Blaise Ingoglia to chief financial officer because he trusted that Ingoglia would completely redefine the role as a conservative pitbull and constrain local governments gone wild,” Ingoglia’s political director, John Wallace, said in a statement Tuesday.
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Wallace also pointed to the Ingoglia campaign’s funding and endorsements, which include support from most of the sheriffs in Florida.
“The choice for CFO is clear --- Floridians will never support someone who thinks they can buy a seat on Florida’s Cabinet,” Wallace said.
DeSantis appointed Ingoglia in July after former CFO Jimmy Patronis won a special election for a U.S. House seat. Ingoglia’s political committee, Friends of Blaise Ingoglia, had about $2.6 million on hand as of Sept. 30. The committee raised $1.2 million from July 1 through Sept. 30.
Ingoglia’s campaign committee raised about $511,000 from Aug. 22 through Sept. 30.
The CFO campaign is the only statewide contest in Florida where President Donald Trump hasn’t made an endorsement.
As of May 31, Steele reported a net worth of $152.7 million. On the House website, Steele’s occupation is listed as “CEO, retired.”
Steele is sponsoring a proposal (HJR 201) for the 2026 legislative session that would eliminate non-school homestead property taxes. It is among a series of proposals in the House for cutting property taxes.
Since being appointed, Ingoglia has traveled the state targeting local-government spending as part of DeSantis’ push to ask voters in 2026 to slash or eliminate property taxes.
Steele has also proposed legislation (HB 113) for the 2026 session to redesignate a road at each Florida state university and college to honor conservative leader Charlie Kirk, who was murdered in September in Utah. Money would be withheld from schools that didn’t go along with the changes, under the bill.
