Potential Steube opponents seek support

Democratic success needs Republican votes, they say

By Bob Mudge

Wesley Walther / GARCIA

VENICE — Matthew Montavon and Allen Spence agreed on several issues in a debate Saturday, especially the biggest one for Democrats in Congressional District 17.

“One of the things Mr. Montavon and I have in common is our detest for Greg Steube,” Spence said.

Steube has represented the district, which includes all of Sarasota and Charlotte counties and part of Lee County, since 2019. He’s currently unopposed in the Republican Party for re-election.

In November, he will face either Montovan, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination in 2024; or Spence, a former Republican who switched parties after Jan. 6, 2021, and is running for office for the first time.

The debate at Venice United Church of Christ was sponsored by the Sarasota-Charlotte Democratic Progressive Caucus and Sarasota Next Gen Democrats.

In his opening remarks, Montavon, of Sarasota, said the country is in “a very bad state,” with an economy that works for the “super-rich”; no accountability from the Department of Justice; and an immigration policy that’s “inhumane, racist and cruel.”

If elected, his priorities would be affordable housing, restoring democracy, immigration reform and universal health care, he said.

Spence, a Babcock Ranch resident, said people feel that the system is rigged against them. He touted his Prosperity Agenda, which includes monthly child-tax credits, ending the “Trump-Steube tariff-taxes” and fixing the state’s property insurance crisis.

Asked by moderator Jim Blue what steps should be taken regarding the war in Iran, Spence said the U.S. “should have learned our lesson in Iraq.”

The military action should have required congressional approval, he said, adding that he would vote against continuing it.

Americans are “paying the price at the pump,” he said.

Montavon drew an analogy to the Vietnam War.

“That’s what we’re doing again,” he said.

The war is unjustified, he said, questioning whether the real motivation behind it was to distract from the Epstein files or President Donald Trump’s poll numbers.

The candidates agreed that the amount of money in politics is a cause of voter distrust.

In his “Get S--- Done Plan,” Spence calls for getting rid of Citizens United, a Supreme Court case that largely took off limits on contributions by corporations and unions, and for passage of the Equal Voices Act, which would add members to the House by capping districts at 500,000 people.

Illinois Rep. Sean Casten, sponsor of the Act, has also proposed the nationwide election of 12 additional senators at large and the creation of a 13-judge multi-circuit panel to hear cases in which the United States or a federal agency is a party. Spence said he supports those measures, too.

“Our representatives are too far from us,” Montavon said

Montavon would bring in ranked-choice voting, in which voters indicate the order in which they prefer the candidates.

To address the state’s property insurance crisis, he said Florida needs to deal with climate change and stop development in flood-prone areas. But it’s not really a federal issue, he said, though he added that the National Weather Service and Federal Emergency Management Agency need to be fully funded.

Spence said he would advocate for a national catastrophe risk pool and prohibit insurance companies from playing “accounting games” by creating subsidiaries.

Audience member Alphonso Martinez wanted to know how the candidates plan to win over GOP voters in the district.

Montavon said this is the Democratic Party’s best opportunity in the area in decades because people are “upset and hurting.”

“Those people are going to say, ‘I made a mistake,’ change to Democrat or not vote,” he said. “I think that’s going to make a difference.”

But it will take a very motivated campaign, he said.

Spence said he’s going to target the business community — owners and employees, who have all been affected by the tariffs.

He plans to run his campaign like a start-up, he said.

“There is a path to victory” that requires high Democratic turnout and help from nonparty affiliated and GOP voters, he said.

Blue asked what one question each of the candidates would pose to Steube, if given the chance.

“How do you look yourself in the mirror every morning?” Montavon replied.

Spence offered, “Why are you a coward and won’t hold a town hall with your constituents?”

Qualifying for the District 17 seat runs June 8-12. The primary is Aug. 18.

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