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State Senator Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, has filed paperwork to run in 2026 for state chief financial officer as incumbent CFO, Jimmy Patronis faces term limits. Gruters, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, opened a campaign account for the Cabinet race last week, according to the state Division of Elections website. He is the first prominent candidate to file paperwork for a 2026 cabinet campaign. Gruters, a certified public accountant, has been widely expected to run for CFO. In March, former President Donald J. Trump said he would support a Gruters campaign. “Joe was on the ‘Trump Train’ before it even left the station and, if he decides to run, he will have my complete and total endorsement,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Gruters was first elected to the Senate in 2018 after serving two years in the state House of Representatives.