Jacob Ogles
A Pinellas County congressional seat once seen as an easy Republican flip could stay a fierce battleground until Election Day. In the final stretch of campaigning, Democrat Eric Lynn holds a money edge as outside groups pillory Republican Anna Paulina Luna.
Redistricting still leaves Florida’s 13th Congressional District as a likely Republican pickup. But Lynn, the only Democrat to stick out the race, has more in the bank. He still holds $592,321 out of the $2,009,715 he’s raised this cycle. That’s partly the benefit of having no Primary opponent.
Lynn wants to keep the seat, won the last three election cycles by Democrat Charlie Crist, in the blue column. Crist resigned the seat this year and is running for Governor against Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Luna, who failed to unseat Crist two years ago, has now spent the most to flip the seat. She raised a total of $3,061,274, but spent much of that on a costly Republican Primary against lawyer Kevin Hayslett. She heads to the final stretch of the season with $480,191 in cash-on-hand.
The congressional redistricting process pushed CD 13 further west, remaking it from a seat Joe Biden won by 4 percentage points to one Donald Trump took by 6.
Both candidates have raised dollars from around the country. Lynn has invested heavily in media production with California-based Bryson Gillete and digital consulting with A+G.
Luna, meanwhile, has paid for consulting with Lind and marketing with Reach Right. She continues to spend heavily renting lists of small donors. But she also just made a six-figure media placement through Smart Media Group.
Outside groups are also in on the fun.
PACs have dropped $901,411 on Luna’s behalf, with Club for Growth bearing special mention for nearly $650,000 boosting the Republican. But another $1,560,962 has also been spent tearing her down, most of that courtesy the Stand For FL PAC, which paid for just shy of $1.5 million in anti-Luna ads. The group is actually a pro-Hayslett super PAC, but one that invested heavily in tarnishing Luna.
Meanwhile, no outside groups reported any anti-Lynn spending, but some $2,028,872 went toward supporting the Democrat. Virtually all of that came from Progress Pinellas, a super PAC that has also hammered Luna in marketing materials
