And Eddie Speir’s ‘winter soldier’ gets arrested. WSLR was the only news outlet that captured the event on camera.
Nic Steinig
Original Air Date: July 31, 2026
Scroll to the end of the article to watch our full recording of the debate .
Host : Earlier today, all three congressional candidates for District 16—Sydney Gruters, Ed Pope and Eddie Speir—attended a debate hosted by the Republican Women’s Club of Sarasota. This is the first time all three candidates have interacted. It’s also Sydney Gruters’ first major public appearance on the campaign trail. The debate was notably contentious, and several campaigns clashed with the event hosts. A Speir supporter was arrested by police. Nic Steinig brings us this exclusive report.
From left to right: Sydney Gruters, Ed Pope and Eddie Speir | Photo: Nic Steinig
Nic Steinig: The Republican Women’s Club of Sarasota hosted the District 16 congressional candidate debate at the Michaels on East restaurant.
When I arrived at the event 15 minutes early, a man who dressed himself in a loose button-up shirt patterned with an American Flag was attempting to negotiate with event organizers to allow him to record the event as an attendee.
The man was firmly turned down and left shortly after. This set the tone for the rest of the event, which had a strictly controlled media environment. Signs were placed at the entrance of the debate which stated “no recording, no photographs.”
After WSLR gained media credentials from event personnel, we were at first told no recording of the event would be allowed, even by members of the press. Candidate Eddie Speir was visibly angered by this rule, and told WSLR that his staffers, and Speir himself, were also forbidden from recording the event.
Speir supporter Ryan Kozinski, who garbed himself in the revolutionary uniform that has come to represent Speir’s campaign, was arrested at the start of the event. Speir alleges event organizers told Kozinski to change his outfit, and that Kozinski refused on the basis of his support for Speir. Kozinski was then allegedly told to leave, and when he refused, was trespassed by police officers who promptly arrested him and confiscated his campaign signs.
Eddie Speir’s “Winter Soldier” was arrested. | Photo: Werner
Other forms of campaign literature and public displays of support were allowed at the event, and existed in abundance.
Speir told us he had clashed with event organizers over the selective rules for recording and campaign material before the debate. Shortly after, WSLR was informed by public announcement that credentialed media personnel—and media personnel alone—would be permitted to record the debate.
And record we did. WSLR was the sole news outlet that captured the event with a camera, and the footage is available on our website.
The debate hall itself was decorous and ornate. Rather than an auditorium, it was arranged more like a fine dining event. Large circular tables with draping white tabletops held perfectly staged wine glasses and cutlery. Food and beverages were catered by professional, groomed kitchen staff, and the space was interlaced with marble spires.
The ticketed event seemed to draw in a ‘who’s who’ crowd of influential people. Business leaders, established campaign managers, and candidates for other active races were all in attendance.
The debate started with statements from the candidates, and Sydney Gruters told the crowd to disregard the attacks Speir would make on her husband, Joe Gruters, who currently heads the Republican National Committee, implying that such attacks were a distraction tactic.
Sydney Gruters | Photo: Nic Steinig
Sydney Gruters: What I believe you’re going to hear today from one of my opponents. I think you’re going to hear a lot about my husband, because attacking Joe Gruters is much easier than talking about real issues. I think you’re going to hear a lot about all of my donors, many of whom are in this room today. Thank you for your support.
And my donors, somehow, I’m developer-owned because I attended an event for Congressman Byron Donalds. And lastly, I think you’re going to hear a lot about ‘We The People.’ But unfortunately, what I think that means is me, myself, and I.
What you’re not going to hear is where do you stand on the issue as it relates to inflation, and dealing with the cost of living that our families, our seniors, and our small businesses are struggling with.
NS: Speir then fired back, saying that special interests, and developers in particular, have taken control of the Republican Party.
Eddie Speir: Well, Sydney was right on some things, but not everything. It is really about We The People versus an establishment that has lost touch with the people. Special interests have captured the leadership of the Republican Party and forced patronage to the candidates of their choosing. How do they force this patronage? By manipulating the narrative through rules. Rules that we can see here today, that I can’t have my credentialed press come.
Eddie Speir | Photo: Nic Steinig
NS: Speir then went on to talk about Joe Gruters directly, with Speir implying that his establishment ties reflect Sydney Gruters’ own political disposition. Speir claimed Joe Gruters blocked Speir from becoming an elected official in a previous race that Speir won.
ES: Joe Gruters is going to get mentioned because there’s a lot that he’s done to set the tone for the Republican Party. When we won, and we actually educated the people, they completely flouted the will of the people in Manatee County. They said, “No, forget it. You’re not State Committeeman. We’re going to install somebody.”
NS: Speir moved on to criticize Joe Gruters’ political endorsements, but the moderator of the event decided to cut Speir off on the basis of having made a personal attack. Speir asked to finish his opening address, but was told he would not be allowed to finish his remarks. This would happen several times at the debate. He was then told to stop recording the event on his phone or be removed.
ES: Heidi Brandt is associated with pleasure texting, a sexually explicit texting company. She’s running for school board. Joe Gruters endorsed her. This is what’s causing people to not be a part…
Event Moderator: I’m sorry, Mr. Speir. You have overstepped your bounds there. You read the rules of this organization. You will not make unsubstantiated attacks on people who are on this podium, on this stage, or not on this stage. We’re going to proceed now to the first question.
ES: Can I get the rest of my time?
Event Moderator: No, you can’t. But you can turn off your phone.
ES: Are you going to really have somebody come up here and frisk me for this?
Event Moderator: I am going to dismiss you for this if you do not obey the rules.
NS: Meanwhile, Ed Pope made the case for himself as a D.C. outsider who has a history in law enforcement and business leadership. He said that Speir previously claimed he was an establishment plant to split the grassroots vote, and bluntly denied that claim.
Ed Pope
Ed Pope: Now everybody knows why I’m sitting between both of them [crowd laughter]. I have not worked in politics. I have been a public servant for over 30 years. And like everyone here, I’m sure we all sit around the table, and we all talk about the things that we want to see changed. Well, I have those groups too. I’ve been working on this for 25 years. This is not something that I just woke up. Like my opponent candidate over here says that I’m a plant. Okay? I announced before Sydney Gruters did.
NS: The first formal question to the candidates: What would be your first priority in office? Pope answered first.
EP: How do you fix corruption? How do you fix the problems in Washington? My first priority, and I’ve already drawn up the legislation for this: term limits. Term limits are crucial, both in the House and in the Senate.
NS: Speir was next, with a warning from the moderator.
Event Moderator: Please do not make another attack because you will be removed.
ES: There’s—if you’re going to fight corruption, you’ve got to be able to call it out. So I’ve been calling it out. I’ve made a history of calling that out so that we can restore the trust, so that we don’t end up in just a theoretical exchange on a debate stage of platitudes, of just sharing platitudes—and that’s what this could end up being. We need single-item bills. So we need to return to single-item bills. That’s one thing. We need to unlock the economy by breaking up monopolies in Big Tech. What is somebody going to do if they receive donations from certain people?
NS: Gruters’ answer was last, and she had this to say.
SG: Day one, my number one priority will be setting up my global district offices and making sure that the community has the resources that this community has had under the leadership of Congressman Buchanan and Congressman Steube, Congressman Buchanan for the last 20 years.
When a senior calls and needs help with their Social Security, they don’t care that there is a new representative and the old representative has retired. They need assistance immediately. And it is my commitment to Pinellas County, Manatee County, Sarasota County, Hardee County, DeSoto, and part of Polk that they will have – every resident, every constituent will have – access to myself and my staff. If they’re having an issue with the federal government, they will get the best customer service and we will hold all of us accountable to a level of excellence.
NS: The questions that followed covered voter fraud protection, coordinating with President Trump, and a yes-or-no only question regarding whether each candidate would endorse the winner of the primary. All candidates said they would endorse the winner, with Speir indicating that an establishment Republican is still better than a communist, referring to the democrats.
One question asked candidates what they plan to do about the affordable housing crisis, and it was particularly contentious.
ES: As far as land-use arbitrage, the developers have caused a problem, and we need to be able to call out the developers.
Event Moderator: So that’s not about affordable housing. That is the question.
ES: No, no, it absolutely is. Are you kidding me?
Photo: Nic Steinig
Event Moderator: Okay, how much time does he have left?… You’ve wasted it without answering the question about…
ES: Yeah, let me answer it. It deals with the developers because it’s a canard that will cause higher and higher density. Developers are paying for development rather than pushing all of this cost on we the people while the developers are getting sweetheart deals and continuing to pave over Florida. It is affordable housing. It absolutely is.
Event Moderator: Do you want me to send you out?
ES: So this is absolutely a part and a key issue of the campaign is the developer control. It ties into corruption.
NS: Sydney Gruters in her answer indicated that preventing big buyers from cutting out aspiring homeowners from the market was important, and she supports that policy.
SG: So I support the recent bipartisan bill that the House and the Senate passed. Probably one of the things I support the most is preventing these huge investors from coming in and buying these starter homes. I know we bought our first home 20-plus years ago, and there is no way we could have competed with a big firm that’s paying cash. For anybody starting out in life, it is so important that they have that opportunity.
NS: WSLR spoke with each of the candidates after the debate to receive their immediate reactions. Sydney Gruters told us she thought the debate went well and provided an opportunity to differentiate the candidates. She felt the steps the moderator took were justified.
Inside Michael’s on East | Photo: Nic Steinig
SG: I think it went great. I think that the attendees got to hear from all the candidates and where they stand on issues. I think that the moderator was doing her best to keep the conversation issue-focused because I think that’s what the audience wants, and to bring other candidates who are not even in this race, to bring them into the discussion is completely uncalled for and really a low blow and has nothing to do with it, so I think she did the right thing.
NS: When asked to respond to Speir’s allegation that she is compromised by her donors, she said her donor base is local.
SG: I’m proud of the support that we have. 85% of our donors are right here in southwest Florida. They’re not in Washington, D.C., and I make no apologies about the large support that we have. I think we have a lot of momentum. People are excited. People want to see me in Congress, and so they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is, and so I’m just very appreciative of that, and if people want to go through and analyze maybe they should spend their time working on their own fundraising. Might be a better use of their time, or maybe they should be meeting with voters and trying to, you know, run a grassroots campaign.
NS: When WSLR spoke with Speir after the debate, he was ruffled at the arrest of his supporter and treatment on the stage.
ES: Who’s deciding who’s credentialed or not? They arrested the Winter Soldier. My Winter Soldier. I got to go find him and get him out of jail. This is ridiculous. This is what tyranny looks like. Why in the world is she taking all this money from hyperscale data centers, and then she puts on her flyer that she’s holding big tech accountable? It doesn’t make any sense. She’s going to push any chance; she’s going to try to play the political game and throw out a bunch of platitudes. But in the end, she’s going to follow the money, and she’s going to vote.
NS: Ed Pope thought he performed well, and it allowed him to demonstrate his character in contrast to the other candidates.
EP: I feel great. I really do. It’s a great opportunity for the voters. I think it’s clear to determine who is in it for the right reasons and who’s in it for the wrong reasons. And I think I demonstrated that today. I’m getting a lot of positive feedback from a lot of people.
NS: The full video of the debate is available on our website. All three candidates said they liked their chances moving into August and felt the debate went in their favor.
Reporting for WSLR News, Nic Steinig.
Watch our full recording of the debate below:
VIDEO
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