Staff Reports
Whitney Fox, a Democrat running for Florida’s 13th Congressional District, has raised more than $200,000 for her bid.
Fox’s fundraising numbers are self-reported — financial reports aren’t due to the Federal Division of Elections until the end of the month — so details about donors aren’t yet available. But Fox’s campaign is touting its momentum early in the race, with the earnings coming over just nine weeks on the campaign trail.
Fox reported most of her donors are Florida-based and that the average ‘grassroots’ donation is just over $31.
“Pinellas County deserves representation in Congress who will lead with compassion and pragmatism, reject partisan politics, and work with others to get things done,” Fox said.
“I’m honored that so many Floridians and community members trust me to take action on the serious issues people are facing every day. Our grassroots campaign is gaining momentum and the message I am hearing is loud and clear: Our community can’t afford another two years of Anna Paulina Luna’s failed leadership in Congress.”
Fox, a Democrat, is running for her party’s nomination to take on incumbent Republican Anna Paulina Luna. Luna has not yet filed finance reports for the fourth quarter of 2023, but third-quarter numbers show Fox has a long way to go to bridge the funding gap. Luna ended September with nearly $560,000 on hand from almost $740,000 in contributions and more than $200,000 in other transfers from authorized committees.
Fox did not say how much of her fourth-quarter haul had been spent.
But she noted that her “movement is just getting started.”
“We’re doubling down and organizing in every corner across the district to talk about the issues that matter to them — like the high cost of groceries and rent, protecting a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions, and protecting earned benefits like Social Security and Medicare for our seniors,” Fox said.
She also points to a growing list of endorsers, which includes prominent Democrats in the Pinellas County-based district, such as former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, Pinellas County Commissioner Rene Flowers, and St. Pete City Council members Deborah Figgs-Sanders and Lisset Hanewicz, among others. Fox also has support from former U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is running for the U.S. Senate this year.
Other endorsers include former state Rep. Adam Hattersley, Largo City Commissioners Jamie Robinson and Michael Smith, Dunedin City Commissioner Jeff Gow, and the National Women’s Political Caucus.
Luna won the district, which covers much of Pinellas County, in 2022 amid a red wave in Florida after the Legislature approved new congressional maps that shifted the voter registration advantage from favoring Democrats to favoring Republicans. She ran previously in 2020, losing to then-incumbent Democrat Charlie Crist, who did not seek re-election in 2022 and instead ran for Governor.
The district, drawn to exclude parts of south Pinellas County and include northern parts of the county, now leans red with nearly 199,000 Republican voters to just 151,573 Democrats.
Cook Political Report lists the district as a competitive race with a distinct advantage for Republicans at R+6 and likely Republican.
Fox previously served as Director of Communications for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, a position for which she resigned to run for office.
Two other Democrats have entered the race: John Liccione and Mark Weinkrantz.
