With the voter registration deadline behind them and Election Day four weeks away, the candidates for Florida’s 17th Congressional District are in the final stretch. Meanwhile, the state is moving forward on a policy shift that could change what parents must do before enrolling their children in school.
A district race built on retail politics
The 17th District covers Sarasota, Charlotte and Lee counties. Republican incumbent Rep. Greg Steube, Democratic nominee Matthew Montavon, and independent candidate Michael Quirk will all campaign through the Nov. 3 general election.
Montavon, who also ran for the seat in 2024, recently walked 80 miles across the district. He said the trek was meant to show voters he would not be distant or reachable only by text or email. He said it also gave him a firsthand look at weak infrastructure that needs attention.
Steube, who sits on the House Ways and Means and Intelligence committees, said Washington can pull a member away from what constituents care about, which is why he plans to spend the rest of the campaign in the district. He said that if re-elected, he will keep pushing for lower taxes and a safer community.
Veterans are a central part of his pitch. Steube said he has filed legislation every cycle on the issue, including the Veteran True Choice bill, which would let veterans use Tricare to see providers of their choosing while keeping the option of staying in the VA system. He described helping constituents navigate agencies such as the VA and Medicare as his top responsibility, and said, “veteran issues are really important to me.”
Both major-party candidates said the issues driving their campaigns do not fall neatly along party lines.
State shelves broader vaccine exemptions, advances other changes
The Florida Department of Health has put on hold a plan that would have let parents opt their children out of school vaccine requirements on moral or ethical grounds. The department is still moving ahead with eliminating school-entry requirements for four vaccines: hepatitis B, chickenpox, Hib and pneumococcal disease.
The proposal has drawn sharply different reactions. Larry Downs Jr. of Pensacola said the default should be freedom, and that families, not institutions, should make these decisions. Dr. Frederick C. Southwick, an infectious disease specialist in Gainesville, said physicians act with their patients’ welfare in mind and that he was saddened by the medical community’s distrust.
Floridians can weigh in at a Department of Health workshop on the proposed rollbacks Thursday, Oct. 8, in Lake Mary.
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