Eddie Speir, a brave constitutional conservative and founder of Inspiration Academy, a charter school, announced his 2026 bid for Florida’s open 16th Congressional District after Rep. Vern Buchanan’s retirement. Having challenged Buchanan in 2024 and won nearly 40% as an anti-establishment outsider, Speir vows to continue exposing “RINOs” and push a bold, non-compromising agenda against D.C. elites.
Supporting his bid, Speir highlighted his momentum and claimed that the lack of an incumbent favors him in the August 18 primary. Potential rivals include Trump ally Joe Gruters and others like Richard Corcoran. Speir acknowledges likely opposition from Trump but downplays the impact of an endorsement while seeking one from the President.
In any case, Speir began his comments by saying, “This is just a continuation of what I did in ’24, which was run against Vern Buchanan to expose the RINOs [Republicans In Name Only] that are not representing the district…and the taxpayers of Florida.”
Building on this point, he noted the dire need for a strong conservative, saying, “So we need somebody that’s gonna step up and actually represent and go to Washington D.C. with a bold agenda and not compromise to the elite social circles that are up there in D.C.”
“We were the largest grassroots movement in this district’s history…Nobody else had even come close to earning 40% in the entire state of Florida. … So, it’s hard to push against an incumbent here in Florida,” he said to add context to previous setbacks.
Offering an alternative, the conservative candidate stated, “But now there’s not even an incumbent, so we’re just gonna continue the same momentum that we had and get the message out.” Additionaly, he said, “In the ’24 primary, Vern Buchanan had one of the worst records possible, and Donald Trump endorsed him with a number of other horrific candidates.”
“So we’ve got to be able to separate Trump’s priorities and his constitutional conservative push, versus the political machine that he’s working with, because that political machine is not doing any favors to the Republican Party,” Speir explained.
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Concluding his comments, the GOP hopeful stated, commenting on the president’s perhaps mistaken endorsements in this situation, “So I think the endorsements mean a little bit less. Now, that doesn’t mean that I won’t try to get Trump’s endorsement, but we already gained [a] historic vote, and as a challenger in 2024.”
Calling out the local GOP, Trent Wayman, Co-Founder and VC of America First Party of Florida , stated, “The FAKE Manatee GOP is having their first “official” meeting tonight with their FAKE group of unelected (all appointed) members.”
Building on this point, the activist noted, “Lots of people who genuinely still wanted to be part of the FAKE group are reporting the police are there escorting them back to their cars if they’re not on the “appointed” list.”
Responding to the last message on social media, Eddie Speir let the local RINOs have it, powerfully quipping, “Reprehensible behavior by the Republican Party of Florida. They will continue to disregard and abuse voters if you let them.”