2018 Florida Chief Financial Officer election

The 2018 Florida Chief Financial Officer election took place on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Republican Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who was appointed in 2017, successfully ran for a full term,^[1] defeating Democratic nominee Jeremy Ring, a former state senator, in the general election.

2018 Chief Financial Officer of Florida General Election

← 2014 November 6, 2018 2022 →

Nominee Jimmy Patronis Jeremy Ring Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 4,152,221 3,872,540 Percentage 51.74% 48.26%

County results Congressional district results Precinct results Patronis:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Ring:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90% Tie:      50%      No votes

CFO before election Jimmy Patronis Republican Elected CFO Jimmy Patronis Republican

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

• Jimmy Patronis, incumbent Chief Financial Officer of Florida^[1]

Declined

• Aaron Bean, state senator^[2]
• Jeff Brandes, state senator^[3]
• Lenny Curry, Mayor of Jacksonville^[4]
• Don Gaetz, former state senator^[3][5]
• Tom Grady, Florida Board of Education member and former state representative^[6][7]
• Teresa Jacobs, Mayor of Orange County^[8]
• Jack Latvala, state senator (running for governor)^[9][10]
• Tom Lee, state senator and nominee in 2006^{[3][11][12][13]}
• Carlos López-Cantera, lieutenant governor and candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016^[3][11][14]
• Seth McKeel, former state representative^[3]
• Pat Neal, real estate developer and former state senator^[15][3]
• Will Weatherford, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives^[3]

Endorsements

Jimmy Patronis

U.S. Senators

• Marco Rubio, U.S. Senator (R-FL)^[16]

Statewide officials

• Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida^[17]
• Rick Scott, Governor of Florida^[18]

Organizations

• Associated Industries of Florida^[19]
• Florida Chamber of Commerce^[20]
• National Federation of Independent Business^[21]

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

• Jeremy Ring, former state senator^[22]

Declined

• Kevin Beckner, former Hillsborough County Commissioner^[23][24]
• Bob Buckhorn, Mayor of Tampa^[25][26]
• Patrick Murphy, former U.S. Representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016^[27][28][29]
• Jack Seiler, Mayor of Fort Lauderdale^[30][11][31]

Endorsements

Jeremy Ring

U.S. Representatives

• Ted Deutch, U.S. Representative (FL-22)^[32]
• Lois Frankel, U.S. Representative (FL-21)^[33]
• Alcee Hastings, U.S. Representative (FL-20)^[32]
• Al Lawson, U.S. Representative (FL-05)^[32]
• Patrick Murphy, former U.S. Representative (FL-18), Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2016^[34]
• Darren Soto, U.S. Representative (FL-09)^[32]
• Debbie Wasserman Schultz, U.S. Representative (FL-23)^[33]
• Frederica Wilson, U.S. Representative (FL-24)^[33]

Statewide officials

• Alex Sink, former Chief Financial Officer of Florida, Democratic nominee for Governor in 2010^[35]

State legislators

• Joseph Abruzzo, State Representative (D-Boynton Beach)^[36]
• Lori Berman, State Representative (D-Lantana)^[36]
• Randolph Bracy, State Senator (D-Orlando)^[36]
• Oscar Braynon, State Senator (D-Miami Gardens)^[36]
• Ben Diamond, State Representative (D-St. Petersburg)^[36]
• Bobby DuBose, State Representative (D-Fort Lauderdale)^[36]
• Katie Edwards, State Representative (D-Plantation)^[36]
• Gary Farmer, State Senator (D-Fort Lauderdale)^[36]
• Joe Geller, State Representative (D-Aventura)^[36]
• Audrey Gibson, State Senator (D-Jacksonville)^[36]
• Evan Jenne, State Representative (D-Hollywood)^[36]
• Shevrin D. Jones, State Representative (D-West Park)^[36]
• Kionne McGhee, State Representative (D-Miami)^[36]
• Bill Montford, State Senator (D-Tallahassee)^[36]
• Kevin Rader, State Representative (D-Delray Beach)^[36]
• Darryl Rouson, State Senator (D-St. Petersburg)^[36]
• Sean Shaw, State Representative (D-Tampa)^[36]
• Richard Stark, State Representative (D-Weston)^[36]
• Perry Thurston, State Senator (D-Fort Lauderdale)^[36]

Mayors and other municipal officials

• Buddy Dyer, Mayor of Orlando^[37]
• Jack Seiler, Mayor of Fort Lauderdale^[37]

Other individuals

• John Morgan, lawyer and Democratic fundraiser^[38]

Organizations

• Florida Professional Firefighters^[39]

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jimmy Patronis (R)	Jeremy Ring (D)	Undecided
Gravis Marketing[40]	October 22–23, 2018	773	± 3.5%	41%	44%	15%
Public Policy Polling[41]	September 27–28, 2018	538	—	34%	40%	26%
Cherry Communications[42]	September 19–24, 2018	622	± 4.4%	38%	38%	20%
Gravis Marketing[43]	August 29–30, 2018	1,225	± 2.8%	41%	40%	19%
Gravis Marketing[44]	July 13–14, 2018	1,840	± 2.3%	34%	33%	32%
Public Policy Polling[45]	June 18–19, 2018	1,308	—	34%	39%	27%
Cherry Communications[46]	May 25 – June 4, 2018	605	± 4%	40%	31%	29%
EMC Research[47]	November 12–16, 2017	705	± 3.7%	35%	37%	28%

Results

Florida Chief Financial Officer election, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jimmy Patronis (incumbent)	4,152,221	51.74%	−7.19%
	Democratic	Jeremy Ring	3,872,540	48.26%	+7.19%
Total votes			8,025,058	100.0%	N/A
	Republican hold

By congressional district

Patronis won 14 of 27 congressional districts.^[48]

District	Patronis	Ring	Representative
1st	70%	30%	Matt Gaetz
2nd	69%	30%	Neal Dunn
3rd	58%	42%	Ted Yoho
4th	65%	35%	John Rutherford
5th	37%	63%	Al Lawson
6th	59%	41%	Ron DeSantis
			Mike Waltz
7th	48%	52%	Stephanie Murphy
8th	60%	40%	Bill Posey
9th	46%	54%	Darren Soto
10th	38%	61%	Val Demings
11th	66%	33%	Daniel Webster
12th	59%	41%	Gus Bilirakis
13th	48%	52%	Charlie Crist
14th	43%	57%	Kathy Castor
15th	55%	45%	Dennis Ross
			Ross Spano
16th	56%	44%	Vern Buchanan
17th	64%	36%	Tom Rooney
			Greg Steube
18th	54%	46%	Brian Mast
19th	63%	37%	Francis Rooney
20th	18%	82%	Alcee Hastings
21st	39%	60%	Lois Frankel
22nd	41%	59%	Ted Deutch
23rd	37%	62%	Debbie Wasserman Schultz
24th	17%	83%	Frederica Wilson
25th	59%	41%	Mario Díaz-Balart
26th	47%	52%	Carlos Curbelo
			Debbie Mucarsel-Powell
27th	46%	54%	Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
			Donna Shalala