By Chris Tobe | The CommonSense 401k Project | September 25, 2026

Florida voters are choosing more than a governor this November. They are choosing all three elected trustees of the board that invests Florida public employees’ pension money: the governor, attorney general and chief financial officer. A fourth statewide race, for U.S. Senate, has a current SBA trustee and offers voters a chance to ask who will demand federal answers about Jeffrey Epstein’s financiers.

The Florida Retirement systems at over $200 billion wield tremendous power.  They recently sued the NY Times on behalf of Israel who did not like their rather light genocide coverage.   Also, Marc Rowan the CEO of Apollo and a member of the Gaza committee gave at least $14,000 to Ashley Moody.

Here is the question the campaigns should have to answer: Why is Florida still investing retirement money with Apollo while Congress and labor unions are demanding answers about its founders’ dealings with Epstein?

This is a question about fiduciary judgment, disclosure and accountability. A former Apollo founder’s dealings with Epstein do not establish that Florida’s pension investment was improper or that any candidate participated in Epstein’s crimes. They do make the fund’s exposure, fees, oversight and exit options legitimate election issues.

The holding Florida retirees can actually see

The State Board of Administration’s historically has invested over $1 billion with Apollo over the period that its largest owner and founder Leon Black contributed over $170 million to Jeffrey Epstein.  Latest holdings lists $26,590,431 in Apollo Accord Fund VI, L.P. under the pension plan’s active-credit private-credit holdings.

The same report shows $211.5 billion in Florida Retirement System Pension Plan assets, including $18.9 billion in private equity and $11.4 billion in active credit as of June 30, 2025.

Source: Florida State Board of Administration, 2024–25 Annual Investment Report

Why the Epstein connection cannot be waved away

Senator Ron Wyden’s Finance Committee investigation says Apollo cofounder and former CEO Leon Black paid Epstein $170 million over five years for purported tax and estate-planning advice. Wyden has asked why the payments were so large and referred his findings to the House Oversight Committee in which Black is currently in contempt for not testifying. These are findings and questions from a congressional investigation, not a finding that Apollo’s current funds engaged in Epstein’s abuse.

In February, the American Federation of Teachers and American Association of University Professors asked the SEC to investigate the accuracy of Apollo’s disclosures about its founders’ Epstein contacts. Apollo disputes the suggestion that its other leaders had business or personal relationships with Epstein even though CEO Marc Rowan is specifically referenced in the Epstein files.. It says Black retained him for personal tax work, that Black left Apollo in 2021, and that other Apollo personnel supplied information in connection with that work. A pension trustee should read the unions’ letter, Apollo’s response and the underlying records before deciding whether the manager’s disclosures and controls are satisfactory.

Sources: Senate Finance Committee; AFT/AAUP SEC request; Apollo response.

Three races for three seats at the pension table

Florida’s June 2026 pension investment policy states the governance plainly: the governor chairs the State Board of Administration; the chief financial officer and attorney general are its other two trustees. The board has responsibility for investing Florida Retirement System assets and delegates day-to-day management to its executive director. Trustees cannot pretend they are merely spectators.

Office	Leading major-party nominees	What voters should ask
Governor	Byron Donalds (R) and David Jolly (D)	Will you order a public review of Apollo exposure, performance, fees, liquidity and disclosure risk before voting on any new commitment?
Attorney general	James Uthmeier (R) and José Javier Rodríguez (D)	What records will you seek about manager diligence and what legal steps would you recommend if material disclosures prove inaccurate?
Chief financial officer	Blaise Ingoglia (R) and Annette Taddeo (D)	Will you demand a complete accounting of Apollo holdings, including partnerships not obvious from the headline asset-class totals?

Uthmeier and Ingoglia already hold trustee seats by virtue of their current offices; the governor’s seat is held by term-limited Ron DeSantis. The Florida Division of Elections lists the qualified candidates. Trustee responsibility is shared: the existence of a holding does not establish that a particular trustee personally selected it.

Sources: Florida SBA investment policy; Florida Division of Elections candidate list.

The Senate race belongs in this conversation too

Ashley Moody (R), Florida’s former attorney general and now U.S. senator, faces Angie Nixon (D). Moody previously held a seat on the state pension board while serving as attorney general. Neither Senate candidate would become an SBA trustee by winning this race. But both can tell Florida voters whether they will press Treasury, the SEC and congressional investigators to obtain the full financial record of Epstein’s operations and examine whether investors were given complete information about Apollo’s leadership contacts.

Ashley Moody, U.S. Senate. A 2026 FEC itemized receipt identifies Marc J. Rowan, employer “Apollo Mgmt,” occupation “CEO,” as a contributor to Moody for Florida and reports $14,000 election cycle to date in the February/March entries.

Sources: Florida Division of Elections candidate list; Senator Moody biography.

Florida has already written the rule the trustees should apply

Florida’s own investment policy says decisions must rest on pecuniary factors that materially affect risk and return; trustees may not sacrifice return or assume added risk to advance political goals. So the responsible response is not an automatic sale based on outrage. It is a documented review of manager integrity and disclosure risk, contractual rights, fees, valuation, liquidity, performance and the cost of an orderly exit. If those factors support divestment or refusing new commitments, trustees should act. If they reject it, they should publish a reasoned explanation that retirees can inspect.

Florida has taken explicit positions on divestment elsewhere, including restrictions involving companies that boycott Israel. The point here is consistency in scrutiny and public explanation, while applying the legal rules governing each type of investment.

Sources: Florida SBA investment policy; SBA global-governance mandates.

Five questions for every Florida candidate

1. What is the latest Florida pension market value and unfunded commitment for every Apollo-managed fund or account, directly or through a fund of funds?
2. How much has Florida paid Apollo and affiliates in management fees, carried interest and other expenses, and what net return did each mandate deliver against a relevant public-market equivalent?
3. Did SBA diligence assess the information in the Epstein files, the AFT/AAUP SEC request, Wyden’s investigation and Apollo’s response? Will the review be disclosed?
4. What contractual restrictions, secondary-market discounts or other costs would apply to an exit, and will the trustees stop new commitments while reviewing the facts?
5. Will you commit to a public vote or written determination explaining whether retaining these investments serves Florida retirees?
6. Review all the data center investments

Florida teachers, firefighters and other public employees have a right to those answers before the November election. The pension report establishes a real Apollo holding. The congressional and union inquiries establish a real diligence question. Now the candidates seeking control of Florida’s pension board should say what they intend to do about it.

1. What the pension disclosures actually show Apollo and Data Centers

Manager or strategy	Florida’s disclosed exposure	What the number means
Apollo Investment Funds IV–IX	$1.2 billion in combined original commitments	These are historical private equity commitments, dating from 1998–2019, in the March 31, 2026 SBA performance schedule. They must not be presented as $1.2 billion invested today.
Apollo Accord Fund VI	$26,590,431 market value	A separate active credit holding in the June 30, 2025 annual report, not one of the six private equity funds. Its current 2026 value requires a newer credit schedule.
Silver Lake Partners IV, V and VI	$311,527,969 combined NAV	Three named technology-focused private equity fund interests at March 31, 2026. This does not establish which portfolio companies or data centers Florida indirectly owns. SBA quarterly schedule.
Blue Owl Digital Infrastructure Fund III	$58,092,010 market value	Real estate position at June 30, 2025; SBA notes the manager name changed from IPI Partners III. SBA annual report.
Principal Data Center GI Fund	$90,480,219 market value	Real estate position at June 30, 2025. SBA annual report.
Principal Digital Real Estate Fund	$81,520,690 market value	Real estate position at June 30, 2025; “digital real estate” is broader than a verified list of data center properties. SBA annual report.

The three specifically named digital infrastructure/real estate funds have a combined reported value of $230,092,919 at June 30, 2025