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Blaise Ingoglia is officially in for CFO, and his DOGE efforts are making a difference

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Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia is officially running for a full term after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the former lawmaker announced Tuesday.

And the timing likely could not be better.

While some may scoff, his aggressive efforts through Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency, dubbed DOGE to mimic the federal effort led by tech tycoon Elon Musk, have been overwhelmingly successful, in a way that will likely benefit Floridians regardless of their political bent.

The efforts haven’t just been another layer of government bureaucracy through which local leaders must navigate. Instead, they’ve produced real results in terms of tax savings for residents and trimming fat in city and county budgets.

The examples are abundant.

In Plantation, Mayor Nick Sortal — a Republican-turned-Democrat — has proposed the city’s first property tax cut in seven years, with the goal of providing financial relief to residents while also maintaining city services. If approved, his proposed cut from a 5.8 millage rate to 5.7 would establish the lowest property tax rate in the city since 2014.

While not directly related to DOGE, the proposed reduction is a response from Sortal in alignment with both DeSantis’ push to eliminate property taxes and Ingoglia’s argument that by cutting wasteful spending, cities will be more equipped to implement tax cuts.

Jacksonville officials, including a majority of its City Council, are supporting a property tax cut that would be its first since 2022.

Lee County offers perhaps an even more salient example, with Clerk of Courts Kevin Karnes trimming nearly 5% from his requested budget allocation from the county, which would collectively save taxpayers more than $787,000.

Karnes says he is trying to lead by example. He pointed to savings that taxpayers would enjoy if other county government leaders took a page out of his book. If all implemented the same cuts, the county would save nearly $135 million. Applying the cuts to the Sheriff’s Office would save $15 million.

Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine, meanwhile, said the DOGE mission is something all local leaders should accept.

“They should see if there’s spots where there’s tax dollars that are being wasted,” he said at a recent Commission meeting. “I think that people should recognize that there are different policy decisions. But if there’s blatant fraud, waste or abuse, that should be pointed out and that should be brought to everyone’s attention.”

Pasco County Commissioners were just as direct in backing DOGE. In early August, the Commission adopted a resolution expressing support, noting in the resolution that “it is in the best interest of the citizens of Pasco County and the State of Florida to work collaboratively … to conduct a thorough and constructive review of local government expenditures in order to identify and eliminate unnecessary or excessive spending.”

While critics will no doubt point to some DOGE targets — such as diversity, equity and inclusion programs — as an overtly partisan effort, it’s worth remembering that the idea at large should defy partisan bickering.

Who among us disagrees that spending should be efficient and lean? Personal budgeting tools, while obviously much more simplified, apply this exact idea by identifying areas of excessive spending and suggesting an overhaul.

As Floridians look to the government — local, state or federal — to help ease affordability issues, the DOGE process is doing just that. Simply put, the less the government spends, the less taxpayers have to fork over.

And the DOGE process is not targeting cuts to services, but rather to programs that may only offer intangible benefits.

Some of those areas are often the subject of intense advocacy among nonprofit partners, faith institutions, philanthropy and more. That means DOGE will continue to have its detractors. But Ingoglia seems to have made a safe bet that when it comes to pocketbook issues, trimming the fat is a winning strategy.

Now he gets to run on it.


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Miles Davis tapped to lead School Board organizing workshop at national LGBTQ conference

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Miles Davis is taking his Florida-focused organizing playbook to the national stage.

Davis, Policy Director at PRISM Florida and Director of Advocacy and Communications at SAVE, has been selected to present a workshop at the 2026 Creating Change Conference, the largest annual LGBTQ advocacy and movement-building convention.

It’s a major nod to his rising role in Florida’s LGBTQ policy landscape.

The National LGBTQ Task Force, which organizes the conference, announced that Davis will present his session, “School Board Organizing 101.” His proposal rose to the top of more than 550 submissions competing for roughly 140 slots, a press note said, making this year’s conference one of the most competitive program cycles in the event’s history.

His workshop will be scheduled during the Jan. 21-24 gathering in Washington, D.C.

Davis said his selection caps a strong year for PRISM Florida, where he helped shepherd the organization’s first-ever bill (HB 331) into the Legislature. The measure, sponsored by Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart, would restore local oversight over reproductive health and HIV/AIDS instruction, undoing changes enacted under a 2023 expansion to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics.

Davis’ workshop draws directly from that work and aims to train LGBTQ youth, families and advocates in how local boards operate, how public comment can shape decisions and how communities can mobilize around issues like book access, inclusive classrooms and student safety.

“School boards are where the real battles over student safety, book access, and inclusive classrooms are happening,” Davis said. “I’m honored to bring this training to Creating Change and help our community build the skills to show up, speak out, and win — especially as PRISM advances legislation like HB 331 that returns power to our local communities.”

Davis’ profile has grown in recent years, during which he jumped from working on the campaigns and legislative teams of lawmakers like Hart and Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones to working in key roles for organizations like America Votes, PRISM and SAVE.

The National LGBTQ Task Force, founded in 1973, is one of the nation’s oldest LGBTQ advocacy organizations. It focuses on advancing civil rights through federal policy work, grassroots engagement and leadership development.

Its Creating Change Conference draws thousands for four days of training and strategy-building yearly, a press note said.



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Kevin Steele seeks insight from conservative leaders at Rick Scott-led summit

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State Rep. Kevin Steele’s campaign for Chief Financial Officer already enjoys political support from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. The Dade City Republican attended a summit headlined by the Senator to also gain some policy insight and mentoring.

Steele was among the attendees for the Rescuing the American Dream summit held on Thursday in Washington, D.C. He said it was a quest for knowledge that drew him to Capitol Hill to hear the discussion.

“The way you do things better in the future is by learning from people who have already accomplished something,” Steele told Florida Politics at the event.

Scott gave a shoutout to Steele from the stage. The Governor already endorsed Steele, who is challenging the appointed Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia in 2026. At the summit, Scott both promoted conservative successes in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term and laid out visions on issues from health care reform to cryptocurrency.

Steele called the panel discussions “amazing” and instructive on tackling affordability issues in Florida.

“If we don’t start addressing those things head first, we’re going to fall behind,” Steele said. “I think we’ve lost several million jobs in the state of Florida over the past six or seven years. Learning from Rick Scott and how to bring jobs back to the state is a good thing. And I think that we need to start tackling some of the big, big things that we need to attack.”

That includes addressing property insurance premiums head on and evaluating the property tax situation.

While he will be challenging a Republican incumbent in a Primary, Steele voiced caution at comparing his philosophy too directly with Ingoglia, a former Republican Party of Florida Chair with a history of animus with Scott.

But he did suggest Ingoglia’s recent scrutinizing of local governments may be starting at the wrong place when it comes to cutting spending.

“We need to start focusing on state down, instead of going to a county and pointing out flaws there,” Steele said. “There’s a lot of issues at the state level that we can address, some of which we are, some of which I’ve submitted different bills to address. I think that there’s a lot of waste and abuse at the state level that we can focus on.”



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Darren Soto refuses to call for Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation

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U.S. Rep. Darren Soto is refusing to say whether indicted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick should vacate her seat in Congress.

Video obtained by Florida Politics shows Soto being confronted on Capitol Hill. “Will you call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign?” the videographer asks.

Initially, Soto remains silent, but the questioner suggests that silence shows “support” for someone who “stole $5 million in health care funds for the most vulnerable.” The Kissimmee Democrat then responds but continues walking away from the camera. He then conflates a censure motion against U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, and Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat.

“Both Mills and Cherfilus-McCormick, both will have due process. Thank you,” Soto said.

Both Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills remain the subjects of ongoing House Ethics Committee investigations. But only Cherfilus-McCormick now faces criminal prosecution for alleged financial crimes.

A grand jury in November indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds to finance her 2021 congressional campaign.

The indictment alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, secured funding intended for a COVID vaccine distribution program, but when overpayments were made, she routed the spending through several accounts that later donated the funds as campaign contributions.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said pursuant to House rules that Cherfilus-McCormick had to give up her ranking status on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. Local Democrats have started to issue calls for the Miramar Democrat’s resignation. But there have been no calls from Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican, has said if she won’t resign, he will move for her expulsion.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which lists Soto as a target in 2026, slammed Soto’s unwillingness to criticize a fellow Democrat.

“Darren Soto’s refusal to call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign is unacceptable,” said NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole. “Floridians deserve a representative who fights for them, not his taxpayer-thieving colleague.”



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