Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna defended her House District 13 seat for a third term, narrowly beating her democratic opponent Leela Gray by less than a percentage point.
With 99% of precincts reporting, Luna had 49.48% to Gray’s 48.67%.
Luna thanked the crowd at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater Tuesday night, where the Pinellas GOP hosted a watch party.
The congresswoman said one of her top priorities will be to enact term limits for Congress members. She also vowed to stop taking corporate PAC money.
When asked about the election results, Luna said they were expecting a tighter race in a midterm election, but were ultimately not worried.
“All that matters in politics is if you win by one vote, and so we're very happy tonight,” Luna said.
Several supporters at the watch party event said they resonated with Luna’s background in military service, including Paul Branesky, a Pinellas resident and 22-year Navy veteran.
“Our congresswoman takes care of us. I do many things for veterans myself, because that's what I live for nowadays,” Branesky said.
Although Luna’s opponent Gray is also a veteran, Branesky said the district was “Anna Luna country.”
According to Luna’s campaign website, her priorities this election included expanding care for military veterans, capping student loan interest rates, eliminating taxes on seniors’ Social Security benefits and banning insider trading.
She has also pushed for beach renourishment efforts in Pinellas County.
Luna has represented the district since 2023.
In 2024, Luna beat Democratic Whitney Fox by about 10 points. Her priority then was to secure the U.S. southern border.
The Republican-dominated legislature redrew district boundaries to favor Republican candidates even more this year. The new map cuts off the southern part of Pinellas County, including portions of blue-leaning St. Petersburg and Gulfport, and pushes north into Pasco County.
Campaign finance reports show Luna raised about $4.3 million to Gray’s $2.9 million, as of Oct. 14. Both candidates also received millions in outside funding.
Luna graduated from the University of West Florida with a biology degree and served in the U.S. Air Force for five years and the Air National Guard for one. She is the first Mexican American woman that Floridians elected to the U.S. Congress.
Her campaign page talks about a tough upbringing, which she said shaped her hard-right political views.
“I know the leftist power structures will stop at nothing to prevent someone like me — someone who looks like me and grew up the way I did — from influencing public policy if they hold right-leaning beliefs,” her ‘about’ page states.
Luna is a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and received his endorsement for her congressional bids.
She serves on the Oversight and Government Reform committee (including the DOGE subcommittee) along with the Foreign Affairs committee. She is also the Chairwoman of the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.
