Anna Paulina Luna is the Republican nominee in a newly drawn Congressional District in Pinellas County.
Luna, a businesswoman and veteran who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, beat out four others for the nomination in District 13.
Luna ran unsuccessfully two years ago against Congressman Charlie Crist in the seat that has been redrawn to include west St. Petersburg and southern Pinellas County. She also was endorsed by Trump in that race.
She will face Democrat Eric Lynn — a former Pentagon official — in the November general election.
Luna received more than 44% of the vote in the district that now leans Republican after a drawn-out redistricting process. Gov. Ron DeSantis played an unusually outsized role this year in the once-a-decade reapportionment process, submitting a congressional map that was adopted during a spring special session by the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The map, currently being litigated in state and federal courts, is expected to increase the number of Republican-held congressional seats from the current 16 to 20, based on 2020 voting patterns. Due to growth in population, Florida’s delegation grew by one seat to a total of 28 congressional districts.
The redistricting process has resulted in political musical chairs of sorts, with some members of Congress running for re-election in newly numbered or redrawn districts, a number of seats with no incumbents and numerous state lawmakers seeking tickets to the nation’s capital.
In another race involving St. Petersburg, Democratic Rep. Michele Rayner defeated former Rep. Wengay Newton, a Democrat who was attempting a comeback in House District 62 in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
Information from News Service of Florida was used in this report.
