Candidates, Calculations, and Community

The January 20, 2026, meeting of the Democratic Women’s Club of Marco (DWCMarco) was packed with all of the above – candidates, calculations, and community, not to mention attendance by over 90 members and guests!

Candidates

Howard Sapp (www.howardsapp.com), Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives – Florida Congressional District 19

Mr. Sapp is originally from Fort Myers and has over 30 years of Federal Service as an Air Traffic Controller. Having worked in government extensively, he believes that he understands how it works and that working class people have been ignored for too long, in part because they do not know how to navigate government systems. He wants to use his ability to work under pressure and solve problems effectively and efficiently to allow his constituents’ voices to be heard in the Florida Legislature and to effect beneficial change. The five key areas he proposes to address are:

• Healthcare – accessibility and affordability
• Economy – improving affordability
• Education- making it a priority again
• Infrastructure – improving aging and obsolete systems
• Immigration and its role in national security – improving immigration policies without the use of excessive tactics

Yurina Gil (www.yurinagilforyou.com), Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives – Florida Congressional District 26

Ms. Gil is a naturalized U.S. Citizen who emigrated to the United States from Cuba in 1997 and lives and works as a Certified Public Accountant in Miami. She believes that in America, if you work hard, you should be able to have a dignified life.

Affordability will be a key issue for Ms. Gil as a legislator. She seeks new ideas and wants to influence Congress to challenge the status quo. She also wants to increase investment in clean energy and infrastructure. Tackling the high cost of insurance is also a priority, using savings from clean energy and improved infrastructure to help offset insurance costs.

She is concerned about the U.S.’s heavy dependence on China for our supply chains and would like to see opportunities redirected to other parts of the world, for example, Latin America. Ms. Gil would like to see more of the Florida LatinX community return to the Democratic Party. She says, “It is very painful not to be a Trump supporter among Cubans.” She and her campaign intend to talk directly to constituents about the following key issues:

• Affordability – the high cost of rent, for example
• Healthcare – re-instating healthcare that is being taken away or made unaffordable by the current administration’s policies
• Immigration – eliminating cruel and inhumane immigration policies resulting in illegal detention and/or deportation

Calculations

“We Are the Wealth of the Nation” was presented by Lee Willer-Spector, MPA, a 30-year resident of Marco Island and holder of a master’s degree in public administration, the DWCMarco audience learned that the most powerful economy in the world has been created by U.S. workers who are not sharing proportionally in the fruits of their labor. Economists estimate that 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is human capital, the labor that produces and consumes the goods and services within the GDP. We are, therefore, the “wealth of the nation.” BUT while GDP has been growing (estimated to be about $31.8 trillion in 2026) and corporate profits have risen to record highs, workers’ compensation has not kept pace, and workers are getting a smaller piece of the pie even though the overall pie is larger!

Human capital is the intangible economic value of skills, knowledge, experience and personal attributes that contribute to the productivity of individuals and businesses.

In raising children who go on to work in our economy and contribute to GDP, parents, who absorb the cost of raising children, are therefore the creators of human capital.

Ms. Willer-Spector used statistics from some government agencies, such as the Department of Labor Statistics, to calculate the cost of raising a child in the US per year as:

Unpaid Labor Value:

$15,444 /child/year

Out-of-pocket expenses:

$21,000/child/year

TOTAL

$36,444/child/year

When multiplied by the approximately 71.5 million children under the age of 18 in the U.S., the estimated investment to raise the next generation is $2,600,000,000,000!

This is nine percent of the U.S. GDP! When we fail as a society to recognize the cost of developing human capital by all levels of parental income and allow a hugely disproportionate level of household wealth to go to a small fraction of high-income people, an unregulated free market undermines itself and erodes its own sustainability in the future.

Ms. Willer-Specter also cited a 2025 Pew Research Center survey which found that majorities of U.S. adults say taxes should be raised for large businesses and household incomes over $400,000. But the ultrawealthy are supporting political candidates who promise to protect them from increased taxes. This puts our economy on a risky path.

Ms. Willer-Specter concluded that, “failure to reinvest in the people and societal structure that underpins its wealth-creating potential, (and) allocating resources from the profits derived from workers but not paid to them in proportion to their worth (are) killing the goose that lays the golden egg…Our children are our future and investing in their health, education, and welfare is investing in our best outcomes as a nation. We, the people, are the wealth of the nation. (We should) defend democracy like our children’s future depends on it!

Community

The Democratic Women’s Club of Marco Island, which partners with Collier County Democrats, is a force for good, proving that when neighbors unite with a shared purpose, lasting change is possible. Whether through advocacy, volunteerism, or simply showing up, every effort contributes to a stronger, more just community. We welcome women and men from Marco Island, Naples, and the surrounding areas.

DWCMarco partner Collier County Democrats recently opened a new headquarters in downtown Naples, according to chair Jane Schlectweg. Monetary donations are needed to keep the new headquarters up and running and volunteers for various functions are welcome. If interested, please contact www.collierdems.org.

For more information about meetings, membership, or supporting our charitable efforts, go to dwcmarco.org or contact us at info@dwcmarco.org

Let’s stand together. Let’s use our voices. And let’s make a difference.