WSLR News event features Allen Spence and Matthew Montavon.
By Nic Steinig
Original Air Date: August 12, 2026
Host: Yesterday, WSLR hosted a public forum for Democratic primary candidates Allen Spence and Matthew Montavon. They are seeking the nomination for District 17, and the winner will battle incumbent Republican Greg Steube for a seat in Congress in the November general election. Nic Steinig brings us a summary of their remarks.
Nic Steinig: One of the first questions WSLR asked the two democratic primary candidates: How will you get Rep. Steube to respond to your campaign and force him to do more than just coast through re-election as an incumbent? Allen Spence responded first, touting his track record of pressuring the Republican congressman.
Allen Spence
Allen Spence: I’ve already been doing this. I got him to close his office in Venice. We started raising awareness to the community, and as a result, Greg Steube is not advertising that office on his website or his letterhead because it was a fake office. He misrepresented what that office was to his constituents, and it’s closed because of me. He went to the yacht base in Fort Myers, and I called him out because he’s never had a town hall. He’s a coward. I’ve had eight town halls. I have a track record of going at him and getting him to change his behavior.
NS: Matthew Montavon said that “performance politics” wouldn’t get the job done and that Democrats needed to appeal to middle-of-the-road Republicans to win.
Matthew Montavon: We could play performance politics, and we could shut an office, but that doesn’t get Greg Steube out of the office. We’ve got to attract that middle ground—those disaffected Republicans. We have to convince them. I think a lot of them are feeling it. A lot of people are suffering. The price of everything is going up. The veterans are complaining about services being covered by the Veterans Administration. These are the issues that are going to make people say, “We need a difference. We need a change. We need something better.”
NS: Next up on moderator Noah Bookstein’s agenda was foreign policy. U.S. military aid to Israel is backing the ongoing destruction in Gaza, and President Trump deployed the U.S. military to prosecute a war with Iran. WSLR asked both candidates if they would support reasserting Congress’ role in military decisions under a war powers resolution and how they would check executive authority on military aid.
While neither candidate specified if they would support a war powers resolution to put war-making authority back into the hands of Congress, they did outline an approach to check current conflicts. Spence went first.
AP: We see this unnecessary war in Iran driving the price of things like gasoline. We see our soldiers getting killed overseas. We see our government, the House and the Senate, have both voted against this war. How I would fix that problem is I would not vote for any more funding for the Department of Defense. They’re not following the Constitution.
NS: Montavon felt the blame for the war rested entirely with Trump and similarly called for funding cuts to address executive overreach.
MM: Trump has basically done impeachable offenses. The war that we didn’t want—Congress didn’t want—and he’s executing this war, spending billions of dollars. It’s Trump’s war. I don’t call it the Iran war. It’s Trump’s war. We’ve got to get Congress into place to question this and cut off funding.
Spence and Montavon
NS: WSLR also held a more local line of questioning. District 17 runs from Newtown to Fort Myers and rural Charlotte County. We asked the candidates how they would represent all these constituents at once. Montavon went first and said that he would reach out to the members of each region.
MM: It’s quite a lot of diversity. You have the city dwellers—very wealthy. But you also have your communities like Newtown, or in Dunbar, in Fort Myers. Isolated—well, not isolated, but very distinct communities. You have your rural farm environment as well. So you have to look at those communities and say, “What are their needs?” That’s what I’ve been trying to do. I’ve been quite frequently in Newtown, and I’ve been endorsed by some of their prominent citizens, Jetson Grimes and Willie May—or Willie—
Audience: Shaw.
MM: Shaw. I’m sorry. Willie Shaw, who had been mayor of Sarasota. I will reach out to those communities.
NS: Spence went next and said his experience living in the region has prepared him to understand the needs of local areas.
AP: Being a lifelong Floridian and even graduating high school from Fort Myers High, I know what the issues are for the people on the ground in these communities. I, too, have spent much time in Dunbar and Fort Myers. I’ve spent time in Newtown. I’ve spent time all over places in this district. And we have a very tough road in Florida. We have to balance growth and economic opportunity with preservation and preserving the wild spaces.
NS: Property insurance is a major strain on Florida homeowners. WSLR asked the candidates what federal-level action is needed on insurance regulation. Spence answered first.
AP: This is addressed in my prosperity agenda. We have insurance companies that are taking advantage of people. They have record profits. They increase the share buybacks. They increase their dividends but cry poor to state regulators. They do this through the use of subsidiaries at the state level. They show fake losses to state regulators to justify premium increases. You get the lowest-cost insurance by spreading the risk out amongst as many people as possible. It’s very important that these insurance companies are forced to write policies nationwide and not use their subsidiaries to show these fake losses to justify premium rates. Our politicians are not listening to us. Politicians should take their agency, and they should try to solve these problems no matter what.
NS: Montavon went next. He disagreed with Spence, saying that the high costs are inherent to Florida’s environmental context and that the federal government shouldn’t intervene. He instead advocated for better planning.
Montavon
MM: The insurance market—let’s face it—reflects reality. We live in a risky environment. People in Kansas are not going to want to pay for our problems here, frankly. Let’s face it: We are going to have some costs in terms of insurance. I’m being realistic. The federal government shouldn’t regulate the industry, and we have to do a better job of managing our environment, what we’re doing in terms of the climate, how we build. All of these elements have to be taken into consideration.
NS: The candidates were given an opportunity to make closing statements. Montavon made the case for himself as someone with experience, and claimed Spence didn’t have enough.
MM: So much of what Allen talks about is our local issues. The federal government is looking at policies that address the whole nation. So much of what Allen talks about, he has no experience in. I have to address this directly. He’s been trading stocks his entire life. He hasn’t contributed to the community. I know how the government works, and I know that there’s a process in place. It’s not like you can look it up on the Internet and you got the solutions. No. It’s a matter of analysis, debate, findings from interest groups. It’s a big job. Attacking Steube for an office is not making a change in our environment. We’ve got to be convincing the voters that we need a change.
NS: Spence said he was the one with a history of challenging Steube and reiterated his policy platform.
AS: I’ve been trying to earn your vote the past year by showing you that I’m the candidate that will hold Greg Steube accountable. I’ve been doing it. I’ve encountered him in person, I’ve laid out the problems, I’m calling him out online every chance I get, and I’m presenting a better policy alternative than Greg Steube. We have my “Keep It Wild” plan, my environmental plan, the prosperity agenda, my plan to strengthen families and lower costs. There are so many plans that I have with specifics on the website where I want you to know how I will vote. I know the issues the best. You can see that when you go to my website and look at my policy positions. You heard it here when I was talking about insurance.
NS: The primary will be held next Tuesday, August 18. The full version of the forum is available on our YouTube page and website.
Reporting for WSLR News, Nic Steinig.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.