Republican congressional candidate Anna Paulina Luna is seeking to flip Florida’s 13th Congressional District red after its former Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) vacated the seat to run for governor.
Luna, a businesswoman and veteran who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, ran unsuccessfully two years ago against Crist for the seat, but the district has since been redrawn in the state’s recent redistricting process, likely leaving her in a better position to win this time around. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report has ranked the district “likely Republican.”
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This time, Eric Lynn, a former Pentagon official, is her rival in the November general election.
Luna is part of a group of candidates the House Republicans’ congressional campaign arm says is a record number of Hispanic candidates this cycle. She told the Washington Examiner during an interview in Washington this week that she first got involved in politics working in countertrafficking efforts.
“I was really involved in what was happening at the border — I realized that it was quickly becoming a partisan one when it should be a more humanitarian focus. But I also realized that my platforms and my positions were being heard and respected in the Republican Party,” she said.
Luna said a humanitarian response to illegal immigration should include countertrafficking efforts, as human trafficking victims can be brought into the United States under false pretenses to be exploited.
“Unlike drugs, human beings can be consumed time and time again,” she said, adding, “We take pride in the fact that we are a country free of slavery, yet it’s happening beneath our noses.”
But it isn’t solely issues tied to immigration leading some Hispanic voters to consider Republicans, Luna argued, citing education and the economy.
“I’m a second-generation American [whose family] came here in search of the American dream, and we’re increasingly seeing that under attack under this administration, and so, I think that’s pushing people to focus more on what politicians and legislators are doing here in D.C.”
Asked how she plans to flip the district, Luna said, “Door-knocking and making direct voter contact.”
Acknowledging that the district has become friendlier to Republicans, Luna said her plan revolves around “grassroots engagement.”
“This past primary, we knocked on over 14,000 doors, made over 40,000 phone calls,” she said. “And that was with my immediate team, not other people. And so, what we were able to do was really get out there and meet voters, and that’s really the strategy.”
Luna said if a candidate shows voters “that you’re caring about what they’re wanting, to represent that, you’ll fight for them in D.C., I think that that resonates.”
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“Frankly, a lot of them are shocked when I show up to the door asking for their vote, and I plan on doing it this November,” she said.
