ASBL 62, Allen Spence, House Candidate, FL District 17, April 13, 2026

ASBL 62, Allen Spence, House Candidate, FL District 17, April 13, 2026

The American Small Business League spoke with Allen Spence, Democrat candidate for Congress in Florida’s District 17. Allen brings over “20 years of experience in public service and economics to the fight for Southwest Florida.” His campaign is centered on “economic prosperity for all, reforming Social Security, and restoring Congress as a real check on the executive branch.” His website is www.Spence2026.com.

Topics discussed:

Allen’s “Prosperity Agenda.” From his website: “Floridians are being squeezed by rising costs, and far too many families are falling behind. Nearly 1 in 5 children in Florida, over 800,000, don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That is unacceptable. My economic plan focuses on immediate affordability, long-term growth, and restoring dignity for every family in Sarasota, Charlotte, and Lee Counties.”

His district, in southwest Florida, is suffering from the Canadian boycott, the downturn in tourism caused by President Trump’s trade policies. The topsy-turvy tariffs of the past year and the uncertainty they cause are hurting the local economy and the area’s small businesses.

The current Representative, Greg Steube, “won’t even have a town hall meeting. He won’t talk to the people in the district,” Allen said. “That’s un-American. There’s a fundamental problem with that.”

With a petition asking that the incumbent conduct a town hall meeting, Allen went to Mr. Steube’s district office and found that it was really a fake office. Allen filed an Ethics Complaint against the incumbent for that. “He won’t even listen to constituents who are scared of leaving their homes because of their skin color. They’re afraid of being arrested by ICE. We need a revolution at the ballot box.”

Allen thinks Congress is dysfunctional. “We need to increase the size of the House of Representatives. For the first 150 years of our history, the size of the House grew as our population grew. Then it was capped at 435 in 1929. This is what you see in two elections this century where the president has lost the national popular vote but has won in the Electoral College because smaller States are over-represented in the Electoral College.”

Bruce de Torres, ASBL host, made the point that 435 Representatives are easier to influence by bribes or blackmail than a larger body (had the size of the House grown with the general population). “If you … imagine keeping the older, roughly 1910 ratio of about 210,000 people per representative [applied to today’s population], the House would be well over 1,600 seats today.” -perplexity.ai.