Matthew Montavon

Matthew Montavon is the Democratic nominee challenging incumbent Greg Steube in the 17th District. He worked for 27 years for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization after Peace Corps service and earlier work in local government planning and finance. He won the August 2026 Democratic primary and leads the Sarasota Democratic Hispanic Caucus.[1]

Montavon was born in South Bend, Indiana, into a family of nine children, and worked odd jobs from high school through college to support himself.[1] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish from the Catholic University of America in 1978 and a master's degree in public administration from Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1984.[1] He served two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Central America on an agriculture and grain storage program, then worked with the Illinois Migrant Council in Carbondale, Illinois, serving migrant farm workers and rural disadvantaged people.[1] He went on to spend several years in urban and regional planning and finance for local, regional and national organizations in West Virginia, Virginia and Washington, D.C.[1]

Montavon then worked for 27 years for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome, Italy, before retiring.[1] According to his survey responses, he chaired the Rome chapter of Democrats Abroad and was an officer in the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations and president of the FAO Credit Union.[1] He now serves as president of the Sarasota Democratic Hispanic Caucus and as a volunteer co-coordinator of the AARP Tax-Aide program, which gave him an award for service in 2023, and he has volunteered with food pantries, Habitat for Humanity and hurricane relief.[1] He won the August 18, 2026 Democratic primary with 55.3% of the vote over Allen Spence.[1]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.