In TV ad, Florida CFO touts 'largest' insurance fine that he didn't support
In a new TV ad for his congressional campaign, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis touts that he’s “the one person fighting for homeowners.”
In fact, the ad states, “he oversaw the largest fine in history against an insurance company.” The video included a Tampa Bay Times headline from last year about state regulators fining Tampa-based Heritage Insurance $1 million for how it treated homeowners after Hurricane Ian.
Except, Patronis never explicitly came out in support of that fine when it was issued (and it wasn’t the largest).
The ad, “Fighting for Homeowners‚” was for Patronis’ race for Congressional District 1 in the western Panhandle. He faces a Democrat in the April 1 special election, which he’s expected to easily win.
The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, not Patronis' Department of Financial Services, levied the fine against Heritage Insurance. The office found that the company was slow to respond to claims, slow to pay claims, used improperly licensed adjusters and kept poor records.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/03/12/florida-insurance-fine-patronis-congress-heritage-claims/
Liar. Imbecile. MAGAt. Those are the only qualifications you need to win office in the Florida Panhandle.