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Florida governor race centers on shifting hurricane wind coverage
The dispute turns on a TV ad claiming the plan would cost $1,000 per family annually, while PolitiFact says that figure was based on a different 2024 scenario tied to emergency fees after a catastrophic storm.
Florida's property insurance fight has moved to the governor race, where Democratic nominee David Jolly and Republican nominee U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds are sparring over whether hurricane and wind coverage should remain with private homeowners policies or be shifted to a state-backed fund, ahead of the Nov. 3, 2026 election, according to Insurance Business.
Jolly argues for moving wind coverage into the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state reinsurance backstop created after Hurricane Andrew to reimburse residential property insurers for part of their hurricane losses. The fund had about $9.66 billion on hand at the end of 2025, with 138 participating insurers and an estimated $17 billion in claims-paying capacity against $3.6 trillion in exposure, the outlet reports.
Donald’s campaign calls Jolly’s approach a government takeover and has highlighted a TV ad that began airing Sept. 8 saying the plan would cost every Florida family $1,000 a year and raise home, auto and renters premiums. A PolitiFact fact-check published with WLRN said the $1,000 figure came from a 2024 Florida House proposal and a scenario where Floridians would temporarily pay emergency fees to Citizens after a catastrophic storm drained an insurer's reserves, rather than from Jolly’s plan itself.
Jolly says the fund would need at least $32 billion to get started, and he told PolitiFact that homeowners would not need a separate wind policy, with private carriers still underwriting and handling claims, while flood coverage would stay separate. In his campaign example, a $300,000 home with a $7,136 annual premium would drop to about $2,556 without the wind component, a cut of roughly 64%, Insurance Business reports.