Jimmy Patronis, Adam Hattersley advance directly to General Election in CFO race

It looks like there will be no Primary season in the race for Chief Financial Officer. Former state Rep. Adam Hattersley, a Tampa Democrat, was the only Democrat to qualify for the Cabinet position. Incumbent Republican Jimmy Patronis also won’t see a challenge within his own party.

Patronis has served in the Cabinet post since 2017, when he was first appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott. The position opened after former Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater resigned to take a position at Florida Atlantic University.

Hattersley launched his campaign for the job in March. He has focused on Patronis in the months since, hopeful there would be no Primary challenge dividing Democrats ahead of the Midterm Election this year. Hattersley previously served in the Florida House and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020.

He has stressed a desire for Democrats to run a unified ticket this fall.

“The Florida Democratic Party has launched a coordinated campaign to target state-wide voters, and I am proud to be a part of it,” he tweeted after qualifying. “We will defeat (Gov. Ron) DeSantis, and I will defeat his CFO, Jimmy ‘QAnon’ Patronis.”

During his time in the Cabinet, Patronis has focused on modernizing state technology and spurring economic development. The job also doubles as the State Fire Marshal, and he has focused in recent Sessions on improving benefits for first responders.

In February, he laid the groundwork to seek another term. He’s also rolled out endorsements from law enforcement leaders in the lead-up to his re-election.

There also was no Primary on either side for the CFO position in 2018. Then, Patronis won a full term after defeating former state Sen. Jeremy Ring, the Democratic nominee. Patronis won that election with 51.7% of the vote, defeating Ring by almost 280,000 votes.

This year, Patronis has raised more than $927,000 toward his re-election effort. Hattersley has collected more than $65,000 to challenge him.