This sets up a potential Ron DeSantis/Donald Trump proxy battle.
A state Senator who has demonstrated loyalty to Gov. Ron DeSantis and his agenda is on deck to be the state’s Chief Financial Officer and Fire Marshal, with an appointment expected at a high-profile press conference in Tampa on Wednesday.
Florida Politics has learned that Blaise Ingoglia, a 54-year-old Republican from Spring Hill who previously served in the House and as Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, will fill the vacancy left earlier this year by Jimmy Patronis when he ran for Congress.
Ingoglia was rumored for months to be the top choice by DeSantis, though the calculus was complicated by President Donald Trump endorsing Sen. Joe Gruters of Sarasota ahead of the 2026 election.
Yet while DeSantis has worked hard to rebuild a relationship with Trump frayed by his unsuccessful run for the presidency in 2023 and early 2024, he stopped short of picking the President’s preference for the open position.
Fundraising is with DeSantis’ pick, even as Ingoglia isn’t official yet.
Gruters, who also chaired the RPOF, has roughly $340,000 cash on hand in his campaign account and roughly $577,000 in his “Friends of Joe Gruters” political committee.
Ingoglia has nearly $1.5 million in his “Friends of Blaise Ingoglia” political committee, but has no active campaign account.
However, with Trump having his favorite in the race, Ingoglia and the DeSantis machine will have to ramp up their efforts. Especially since polling shows Gruters ahead of Ingoglia when GOP voters are aware of what Trump wants.
The CFO race will be just one to watch on the August 2026 primary ballot, with Trump-favorite Rep. Byron Donalds thus far the only serious candidate on the GOP side, though First Lady Casey DeSantis, Sen. Jay Collins, and others have eyed a run.
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A.G. Gancarski, Jacob Ogles, and Peter Schorsch contributed reporting.
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