Republican Anna Paulina Luna (left) is defending her CD-13 seat against Democrat Whitney Fox. (Photos from the Luna and Fox campaigns).
A new public opinion survey of the race in Florida’s 13th Congressional District between conservative Republican Anna Paulina Luna and her Democratic challenger, Whitney Fox, shows the two tied at 46% as early voting began in the district on Monday.
The survey, by St. Pete Polls, also shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by 3 percentage points, 50%-47%. And it reveals that an astonishing 69% of voters — all of whom live in Pinellas County — were personally affected by at least one of the two hurricanes that barreled into Florida’s Gulf Coast in the past month.
There has been little public polling in the race, which political analysts say may be the most competitive of any congressional race in Florida this year. A previous St. Pete Polls survey from late August actually showed Fox leading Luna by four points, 48%-44%. In both cases, the Luna campaign pushed back, saying that their internal polls show the Republican incumbent nursing a 5 percentage-point lead.
The poll of 905 likely voters in Congressional District 13 was conducted on October 20, and has a margin of error of 3.3%.
“St. Pete polls said the same thing about Eric Lynn and got caught red handed cooking the polls for Fox even though she is 5 points behind,” said Olivia Carson, campaign manager for Luna, in a statement sent to the Phoenix.
“Whitney Fox is a dishonest extreme liberal who is all talk and no action. While she’s been busy lying to Pinellas County residents, Representative Luna has been meeting with residents, helping constituents with their FEMA applications, conducting supply drives for our storm-impacted neighbors, meeting with President Biden and Governor DeSantis about recovery efforts, and leading the charge for increased recovery help by co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to immediately add $15 Billion to FEMA for storm recovery. While Whitney continues to advocate for her tax payer funded, extreme liberal ideas — including redirecting FEMA assistance to illegal aliens and banning gas powered cars, Rep. Luna will continue delivering results for Pinellas county residents.”
(The allegation that FEMA assistance has redirected to undocumented migrants has been denied by FEMA, which posted on its website on Oct. 12: “Disaster Relief Fund money has not been diverted to other, non-disaster related efforts.”
The Washington Post reported on Oct. 4 that the Trump campaign had been referring to FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program, which gives grants to local governments and nonprofits to take care of undocumented immigrants. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told the Post that the program is “a completely separate, appropriated grant program that was authorized and funded by Congress and is not associated in any way with FEMA’s disaster-related authorities or funding streams.”).
Redrawn district
This is Luna’s third time running as the Republican nominee in Florida’s 13th Congressional District. In 2020, when the district was drawn to favor a Democrat, she lost to then-incumbent Charlie Christ by 6 points, 53%-47%.
After the district was redrawn during congressional redistricting in 2022 and became much more Republican-leaning, Luna defeated Democrat Eric Lynn by 8 percentage points, 53%-45%, in 2022.
A poll conducted for the conservative-leaning Club for Growth PAC in early September showed Lula leading Fox by 5 points, 48%-43%.
Luna has become nationally famous in her first term in office, in part for being such a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump (she sat in Trump’s personal V.I.P. box during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this past summer). A year ago, Time magazine named her to its 2023 TIME100 Next list.
That national notoriety might be the reason why Luna has actually raised more money outside the district than inside, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks data on campaign finance. They report that she has raised 58% of her $1.67 million from out-of-state. Fox, on the other hand, has raised 64% of her $803,896 in-state and only 36% out-of-Florida.
First run
This is Fox’s first run for public office. She resigned as director of communications and marketing for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) a year ago to enter the race, in which she defeated four opponents in the Aug. 20 primary election.
‘Whitney Fox is surging because Floridians are looking for real leadership, not someone like Anna Paulina Luna, who voted against disaster relief funds,” said Blue Dog PAC spokesman Phil Gardner in a written statement (the Blue Dog PAC raises campaign funds for moderate Democratic candidates).
“Whether it’s banning abortion, repealing the Affordable Care Act, or selling out to corporate developers and insurance companies, Anna Paulina Luna has spent her time focusing on culture wars and partisan politics instead of delivering for Florida. Floridians deserve a Member of Congress who shows up, not one who hides behind cable TV hits and endless Tweets.”
The Cook Political Report continues to list the Luna-Fox race as “likely Republican.”