As Whitney Fox tries to differentiate herself from foe Anna Paulina Luna, she just made a hurricane-sized mistake

CD 13 could be a bellwether for Election Night.

On Wednesday morning around 10:30 a.m., Whitney Fox’s campaign for Florida’s 13th Congressional District sent out a fundraising email to supporters asking “everyone reading this” to chip in $5 or $10 to help the campaign “reach Whitney’s final public fundraising deadline of the election.”

The email noted the campaign is “slightly behind” on its goal, and issued a warning that “undecided voters are looking for confirmation that we have the momentum” to defeat incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

There’s nothing unusual about the email — it’s pretty standard for campaigns to have a final fundraising push ahead of quarterly fundraising deadlines (the third quarter of 2024 is wrapping up).

But there is something lacking in tact.

Shortly before the email went out, Pinellas County issued mandatory evacuations for people in Zone A, for those are low-lying areas prone to flooding and for those in mobile homes. There are a lot of people in the district Fox seeks to represent who live in Zone A. Those people are most likely worried more right now about grabbing sandbags to mitigate what could be a huge flooding event as a result of Hurricane Helene, or making plans to get out of dodge. What they’re probably not thinking about is cutting a check to anyone’s campaign.

The move shows Fox’s blind spot. She’s a first-time candidate and perhaps doesn’t know the Golden Rule of politicking as natural disaster lurks: You ask people how you can help them, not for them to help you.

Those “undecided voters” Fox’s fundraising email mentioned might not take kindly to someone reaching their hand out while residents evaluate how much food they’re possibly about to lose in the freezer if the power goes out, or whether their home is going to be underwater in a day or two.

And they might find themselves closer to decided after, a few hours later, they got a text message from Luna’s congressional staff.

A constituent shared a screenshot of a text sent at 1:40 p.m. from Luna’s Office ensuring people she was there to help.

“My office is standing by to assist you.  Please be safe,” the text read. “Staying informed is key — check local updates frequently, as conditions could change quickly.”

The text included a helpful link to Pinellas County’s “know your zone” website, which allows residents to search their address to see which evacuation zone they’re in — critical information when a mandatory evacuation for Zone A is underway. Another link sends constituents to a list of items that people should have on hand ahead of a storm. It also included a number (43362) to text the word “SHELTER” to in order to receive information on a Federal Emergency Management Agency shelters available in certain areas.

The text also included a short video from Luna sharing similar information, and urging individuals to make a plan for themselves and their families, including pets.

Know what it didn’t include? A pitch for money. Granted, it would be a violation of campaign finance laws to do so since the message was sent in Luna’s official capacity as an elected official, and Fox doesn’t have an office from which to send useful tips, links and reminders.

But a candidate doesn’t need an official elected office to pitch in. Fox could have skipped the fundraising email and instead headed out to help people fill sandbags. She could have walked low-lying neighborhoods in the district to see if anyone needed a hand packing up. She could have texted supporters links to resources. Or she could have just not begged for campaign cash as people face potential property loss or, in hopefully an unlikely scenario, injury or loss of life.

These sorts of things matter in campaigns.

I would never dare suggest that Charlie Crist may have won the 2022 gubernatorial election had Gov. Ron DeSantis not gotten an image boost from his response to Hurricane Ian. But I would venture to guess the margin of victory for DeSantis might not have been quite so large had it not been for the positive perceptions of his emergency response, which included praise from one of his top political enemies, Democratic President Joe Biden.

In times of crisis, most voters forget about partisanship, and they are just looking for someone who is looking out for them. Luna’s text sent that message. Fox’s definitely didn’t.