Blaise-ing into the CFO job
Today's the day: Gov. RON DESANTIS is expected to appoint state Sen. BLAISE INGOGLIA, a hard-charging former state GOP leader and successful poker player, to become Florida's next chief financial officer, the governor's office has confirmed.
The plans were first relayed to Playbook on Tuesday morning by three people aware of them, granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss details publicly. Ingoglia, a 54-year-old homebuilder, is expected to run again for the post in 2026 with DeSantis' blessing.
His appointment is hardly a surprise; Ingoglia has been a staunch ally for DeSantis. He also sponsored many of his initiatives, including on illegal immigration, the death penalty and election regulations.
The two are so close that they sat side by side at this year's college basketball national championship game in San Antonio won by the University of Florida.
About the job: Florida's CFO is not only responsible for managing the state's checkbook, but also plays a key role in overseeing state regulators of insurance and the banking industry. It's also part of the Florida Cabinet.
Why it's vacant: The former officeholder, Republican JIMMY PATRONIS of Panama City, stepped down from the role early to successfully run for the congressional seat MATT GAETZ resigned from to mount a short-lived bid to be President DONALD TRUMP's attorney general.
The intrigue: Ingoglia is not the candidate for CFO that Trump wants. Trump urged state Sen. JOE GRUTERS of Sarasota to run in 2026, before the 2024 election. Gruters has long been a Trump loyalist who's extremely close to the president's inner circle.
Even though DeSantis has been making peace with Trump, a Gruters appointment was always unlikely. Not only have he and DeSantis had a frosty relationship, but during the last election they stood diametrically opposed on a ballot measure that would have legalized adult recreational marijuana. It wouldn't make sense for DeSantis to spend weeks successfully criticizing the amendment, only to later appoint its most vocal backer in the Legislature to a Cabinet role.
Does that mean the CFO election is settled? Not at all. Gruters has the powerful backing of Trump World, but Ingoglia's incumbency can help him show voters what he's all about. It's not hard to picture him traveling all over the state with DeSantis — as he did just recently — to talk about issues people care about, such as the case for reducing property taxes.
And even though DeSantis is nowhere near the formidable fundraiser he once was during the presidential race, his wins against ballot initiatives on abortion rights and marijuana in 2024 are probably giving him confidence in another hard fight — despite the brutal 2024 Iowa Caucus loss to Trump.
It's risky. DeSantis has to at the very least bank on the idea that Trump will spend little time in Florida ahead of the midterms, because he himself experienced just how powerful the president's endorsement and rallies were in 2018. But when he appointed ASHLEY MOODY to the Senate, DeSantis already showed he would be taking his own path when deciding who leads Florida.
There is one final possibility Playbook has learned in recent weeks: More than half a dozen Tallahassee lobbyists and GOP operatives say the governor's office has had conversations with Gruters about abandoning the CFO race in favor of being appointed to another job in Florida government.
But at least one veteran GOP operative was skeptical that would be OK with the White House. 'I don't know how this whole thing gets solved without DeSantis endorsing Byron,' the person said, referring to Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate Rep. BYRON DONALDS, whose candidacy DeSantis has already brushed off.
— Gary Fineout and Kimberly Leonard
WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is holding a press conference in Tampa at 10 a.m.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget that Playbook should look at? Get in touch at: kleonard@politico.com and @leonardkl.
... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...
BEACH ACCESS IN COURT — A panel of state appeals court judges wrangled Tuesday over the beach use legal fight in Walton County, following the recent repeal of a Florida law restricting how local governments can declare public access across private property.
The First District Court of Appeal heard a challenge to Walton County's declaration of public access over three of more than 80 parcels under the 2018 law repealed in June. Critics said the law encouraged property owners across the state to chase visitors off of beaches.
— Bruce Ritchie
C-43 RESERVOIR — DeSantis on Tuesday announced the opening of a 10,000-acre reservoir designed to help protect the Caloosahatchee River from harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
DeSantis called the C-43 Reservoir in Hendry County 'one of the most significant projects that's ever been done in the state of Florida.' The reservoir includes a pump station capable of moving 650,000 gallons per minute. The governor, who has been under fire from environmentalists for his support of the 'Alligator Alcatraz' immigrant detention center in the Everglades, touted his record since being elected in 2018, when algae blooms led to closed beaches. Discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers contribute to coastal algae blooms.
'Even though we don't control when the Army Corps discharges water from Lake Okeechobee, we had an opportunity to mitigate the impact of that,' DeSantis said at the event Tuesday. The South Florida Water Management District said in 2017 soon after construction started that the project would be completed in 2022 at a cost of $500 million. An updated cost was not available Tuesday.
— Bruce Ritchie
JOINING 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ' LAWSUIT — The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is asking a federal court to allow it to intervene in an environmental lawsuit challenging 'Alligator Alcatraz.'
The motion argues the tribe is uniquely affected through federal and state laws establishing the surrounding Big Cypress National Preserve as its homeland. There are 10 traditional tribal villages located within 3 miles of Alligator Alcatraz, and one is 1,000 feet from the facility boundary, the tribe said.
— Bruce Ritchie
— 'Funding shortfalls leave gaps in Florida's rural health care,' by Bea Lunardini of the Tampa Bay Times.
— 'Florida executes man for killing 2 outside bar, the 26th US execution this year,' by David Fischer of The Associated Press.
PENINSULA AND BEYOND
— 'City of Orlando chooses Winter Park firm to build Pulse Memorial,' reports Joe Byrnes of Central Florida Public Media.
— 'Orange County looks to stop holding ICE detainees without charges, rejects transport proposal,' reports Kairi Lowery of the Orlando Sentinel.
CAMPAIGN MODE
INSIDE SECOND QUARTER FUNDRAISING FIGURES: Here's a quick look at campaign finance records for members of Congress from the beginning of April through the end of June, for candidates seen as 2026 campaign targets by party campaign arms.
— Democratic Rep. DARREN SOTO raised $162,000. He doesn't yet have a major GOP challenger. The modest fundraising could be an indicator that he and his team aren't worried about the seat being competitive, especially because it's been on the GOP's target list before. Soto won reelection in 2024 by nearly 13 points.
— Democratic Rep. JARED MOSKOWITZ raised $179,000.
— GOP Rep. ANNA PAULINA LUNA raised $507,000. She hasn't drawn a Democratic challenger yet.
— GOP Rep. CORY MILLS raised $253,000, which is roughly the same amount raised by Democrat NOAH WIDMANN, a first-time candidate and attorney.
— GOP Rep. MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR raised nearly $370,000.
State of FL-27: A new Democratic House candidate has entered the race to challenge Salazar for her seat. ROBIN PEGUERO, who was an attorney for the House Committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, told NBC News' Dylan Ebs that he's running. He previously worked as a homicide prosecutor in Miami and was chief of staff for Democratic Rep. GLENN IVEY of Maryland. (Watch his campaign video.)
HOW MOODY'S DOING — Sen. ASHLEY MOODY, who DeSantis appointed to her job and is now running in a special election to keep her seat, raised nearly $2 million in the second quarter. Among the donors were Trulieve CEO KIM RIVERS, former Education Secretary BETSY DEVOS, Continental Strategy and Trump ally CARLOS TRUJILLO, Capital City Consulting cofounder NICK IAROSSI and former Rep. ILEANA ROS LEHTINEN.
TRUMPLANDIA AND THE SWAMP
BONDI'S BIND — Many of Trump's very online MAGA supporters have always distrusted Bondi. Far-right influencers haven't forgotten that she did not vocally defend the people who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. They view her career in Florida politics as tainted by her links to the GOP establishment, especially the state's former governor, Jeb Bush. As a private lawyer, she even represented Pfizer, a company that some elements of Trump's base view with suspicion due to its Covid-19 vaccine.
— POLITICO's Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein and Hailey Fuchs
WALTZ FACES THE MUSIC — Democratic lawmakers laid into former national security adviser Mike Waltz on Tuesday over his role in the Signalgate messaging scandal — saying he lied about aspects of the leaked chats and castigating him for the fact that sensitive information and potentially classified information was exposed.
Waltz, for his part, blamed the Biden administration for approving the use of the messaging app, saying the app was 'not only authorized, it was recommended' by the Biden administration's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency. He said there was no classified military information discussed in any Signal chats he was part of.
— POLITICO's Cheyanne M. Daniels
WALTZ'S UN VISION — The former national security adviser said he would push for reform at the United Nations, portraying the body as bloated, ineffectual and overly politicized.
Echoing the Trump White House's approach to slashing the federal government, Waltz said the administration was conducting a number of reviews of the UN to examine how it is spending its funds, calling for the body to refocus on its founding principles.
He also criticized the 'radical politicization' of the body, citing U.N. reports about racism among U.S. law enforcement and the seizure of land from Native Americans.
— POLITICO's Amy Mackinnon
DATELINE D.C.
SALAZAR'S IMMIGRATION BILL — The Miami-area congresswoman introduced bipartisan legislation Tuesday that would create a program 'allowing undocumented immigrants who have been in the U.S. since 2021 to apply to live in the country for up to seven years with work authorization. They would have to pay $7,000 in restitution, stay in legal compliance, and check in with the Department of Homeland Security regularly,' reports Mitch Perry of the Florida Phoenix.
TRANSITION TIME
— Lobbying firm Ballard Partners is bringing four lobbyists to its Washington office:
THOMAS BOODRY was most recently special assistant to Trump and senior director for legislative affairs at the National Security Council.
GRACE COLVIN was formerly a lobbyist with The League of Credit Unions.
ALISON ANWAY and SCOTT WAGNER were already with Ballard and are moving primarily to work with clients in the firm's DC office.
ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN
Correction: Tuesday's Playbook misidentified birthdays for July 15. The correct dates are:
TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Former Rep. Michael Bilirakis … Alexis Fowler, ethics and compliance office with Citizens Property Insurance Corporation … former state Sen. JD Alexander ... Doug Martin, president of Gray Fox Strategies ... former Rep. Ross Spano.
TUESDAY'S BIRTHDAYS: Former Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen … former state Rep. Michael Grant … Ron Sachs, founder and CEO of Sachs Media … Miami Herald's Jeff Kleinman.
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