Your Sun: Candidates make pitches for votes

Election event attracts more than 30 candidates

By Bob Mudge

VENICE — Candidates seeking election to offices ranging from Charter Review Board to Congress brought their campaigns to the Hotel Venezia on Wednesday night.

Venice Area Chamber of Commerce Director of Government & Leadership Programs Charlie Thorpe sets out the ground rules for candidate presentations at the 2026 Candidate Forum. More than 30 local candidates attended, with a few others represented by proxies.

The Venice Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Campaign Forum gave them the chance to meet one-on-one with voters and then give a 90-second ad for themselves to the group as a whole. A few were represented by a proxy who got the same opportunity.

Though it was a VACC-sponsored event, with the South County Tiger Bay Club and the Venice Area Board of Realtors, the public was invited. Several candidates said they were pleased with the attendance.

Besides observing the time limit, tracked by VACC Member & Foundation Programs Director Savannah Lease, candidates were asked to focus solely on their own platform and not talk about their opponents.

Both ground rules were largely adhered to, though Allen Spence, running as a Democrat to challenge GOP U.S. Rep. Greg Steube in U.S. House District 17, had his pitch cut off after repeatedly talking about Steube, who wasn’t present. He’s unopposed in the Aug. 18 party primary.

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