Democrat Annette Taddeo, a former Florida state senator, faces Republican Blaise Ingoglia in the Nov. 3 race for Florida chief financial officer. Asked why she is seeking the office, 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."

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

Candidate information

Family: "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. I moved to Florida in 1992, built my business here, and raised my family. 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," Taddeo said in our candidate questionnaire.

Education: "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," Taddeo said.

Party: Democrat.

Experience and public service

Occupation: "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 said in our candidate questionnaire.

Elected office: "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," Taddeo said. "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, and fought the insurance bailout bills."

Taddeo also served as chair of 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 and claims, Taddeo said: "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 added that after a hurricane 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: Asked about a specific change she would make, Taddeo said: "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." She 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."

Differences from opponent: "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," Taddeo said. "I bring something different: 30 years running a Florida small business, five years on the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, and independence."