Florida CFO: Where Patronis and Ring stand
Rarely does the battle for Florida’s chief financial officer — a lowprofile position created in 2002 — incite the kind of nasty political back-and-forth at play in the current race for the seat.
Incumbent Jimmy Patronis, a Republican, faces Democratic candidate Jeremy Ring this November in a race that would be an important win for the Democratic party. A Democrat hasn’t served as CFO since Alex Sink in 2006 and the party currently holds only one of six statewide offices. That seat — Bill Nelson’s in the Senate — is also on the ballot this year.
It’s also important for Republicans, as the party hopes to continue its dominance of Florida’s executive branch. For Patronis, who became CFO after being appointed by Gov. Rick Scott last year when Republican Jeff Atwater resigned, winning would secure him his first full term.
The post is one of three state cabinet positions — the others are the attorney general and the commissioner of agriculture — and primarily focuses on managing Florida’s checkbook, as well as other auditing and oversight functions. The CFO is also responsible for overseeing insurance consumer services, insurance fraud investigations and managing unclaimed property.
Only three other people have held the post before Patronis in campaigns that typically flew under the radar. But in this race, both candidates have made headlines after engaging in smear cam-
paigns that have culminated in twin websites: Patronis’ Ring’s Criminal Ring and Ring’s Chief Fraud Officer. Each highlight what the candidate believes is his competitor’s criminal or scandalous campaign contributors.
“He went there, we countered,” Ring said in an interview. “We’ve got to get back to the issues.”
Who they are
Both Patronis and Ring have backgrounds in business, albeit radically different ones.
Patronis serves as a partner in his family’s seafood restaurant business, Captain Anderson’s, in Panama City Beach. The 46-year-old was born in Panama City and holds an associates degree in restaurant management, as well as a political science bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.
He was appointed to the Florida Elections Commission by former Gov. Lawton Chiles, a Democrat, and later reappointed by former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Patronis represented the Panhandle in the state House from 2006 to 2014, before moving into the CFO post in June 2017.
Ring was an early Yahoo! employee, opening the Internet company’s East Coast office from his apartment in New York City in 1996, when he was 25 years old. His 2018 book, “We Were Yahoo!” details the rise and fall of the dot com era.
The 48-year-old moved to Florida in 2001 to continue work in the tech and innovation sector before pursuing politics. Born in New Haven, Conn., he holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Syracuse University.
Ring, who lives in Parkland, was elected to the Florida Senate in 2006 and served for 10 years representing the Broward and Palm Beach County area.
Where they stand
For both candidates, the fiscal responsibility and insurance components of the job are key, though they have different approaches.
Ring wants to keep insurance costs stable over time, in part to help families rebuilding after natural disasters.
“How do you create a foundation,” Ring said, “where risk is managed properly, insurance companies can stay solid and grow ... and ultimately result in lower rates for the policyholder?”
For Patronis, the focus is on mitigating insurance fraud. After Hurricane Irma hit the state in September 2017, Patronis launched a Disaster Fraud Action Strike Team to track down
insurance fraudsters. During his tenure, the CFO office has successfully prosecuted 767 people for insurance fraud, Patronis said.
Looking ahead, Patronis is “always looking for opportunities to alert the public to new scams,” he said in an email. His office is also creating a new cryptocurrency chief to oversee potential illegitimate crypto schemes in the state.
His other top priorities are continuing to fight for more protections for first responders, as part of one of the CFO’s more obscure roles as State Fire Marshal. Earlier this year, Patronis advocated for a bill that expanded compensation benefits to first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and he’s been delivering anti-cancer kits to firefighters to decontaminate gear after a fire.
Ring is focused on turning Florida into an innovation hub à la Silicon Valley and expanding on the work he started in 2009, when he helped create the Florida Growth Fund. The venture capital fund invests money from the Florida Retirement System in tech and innovation companies.
How they differ
It is ultimately the impact of their different business backgrounds that guide Patronis and Ring on their visions for the CFO role.
Patronis’ firsthand experience running a local business informs his focus on being a “fiscal watchdog for taxpayer dollars.”
“I know how important it is for the economic health and prosperity of our state that government cuts waste, so we don’t have to raise taxes on our businesses and citizens,” he said.
Ring’s focus is more big picture: To transform the business landscape in Florida.
“Jimmy has run a successful family business,” he said at an event in Tampa. “I helped build Yahoo.”
As of June 30, 2017, Ring’s Florida Growth Fund program had invested in 41 technology and growth companies and 31 private equity fund across 13 Florida counties, creating nearly 17,000 jobs, according to a report from the state Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability.
Patronis, with his focus on consumers and local businesses, was able to return $345 million to Florida consumers and businesses since he took office, breaking the record for most returns in a year.
Both have been successful at capitalizing on their different philosophies.
As Patronis put it: “Florida needs someone with the experience, and we can’t afford to risk it.”