Whitney Fox slams Anna Paulina Luna for voting against government funding as Helene loomed off shore

Democratic candidate Whitney Fox slammed U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna for voting against funding the government as a storm threatened Florida. But the St. Petersburg Republican’s campaign said now is the time for rebuilding, not attacks.

Fox, the Democratic nominee in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, slammed Luna’s vote last Wednesday against a budget that will keep the federal government operating through the November election.

Luna was among 82 Republicans in the GOP-controlled House who voted against the deal with the Democratic Senate; 11 of the dissenting votes came from Florida lawmakers.

“Let that sink in,” Fox said in a video statement. “As the worst storm in our lifetime was hours away, Luna couldn’t set aside her partisan games for even a moment. She voted to delay critical FEMA aid and emergency support when we would need it most. This isn’t leadership — it’s a catastrophic failure. We need a Representative who will fight for us, not against us. I’ll always put Pinellas first, not politics.”

Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Big Bend late Thursday as a Category 4 storm. While the strongest winds hit north Florida, storm surge savaged Pinellas County, flooding streets and destroying property.

Luna, whose office has been dealing with storm response since before the system reached shore, dismissed the attack as a politically motivated smear at a sensitive time in the community. She also said the attack was misinformed, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) offers essential government services, and would likely not be affected by a temporary government shutdown.

“Whitney Fox is clueless as to how FEMA works and as your outlet pointed out, was fundraising during the hurricane while the barrier islands were destroyed and 11 people were tragically killed,” Olivia Carson, Luna’s Campaign Manager, told Florida Politics.

“Congresswoman Luna does not have time to play make-believe with someone who is down in the polls and doing nothing for our residents. Rep. Luna will be in the field until all residents have been cared for.”

Carson referenced a fundraising email that Fox’s campaign sent last week, asking voters to chip in $5 or $10 to her campaign ahead of a fundraising deadline this week. The email reached individuals shortly after Pinellas County had already issued its first mandatory evacuation orders for coastal residents.

The heated rhetoric between the campaigns comes at a time when the CD 13 contest has arguably turned into the hottest congressional race in Florida. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee just named Fox to its Red To Blue program, which to date has identified 33 Democratic challengers across the country most likely to win in Republican-held seats.

Polling has offered differing perspectives on which candidate has the edge. A Florida Politics/St. Pete Polls survey last month showed Fox with a 48% to 44% lead on Luna. But a Club For Growth PAC/WPA Intelligence poll released the same week showed Luna up 48% to Fox’s 43%. The last poll of the race in a FiveThirtyEight database of public survey results was a GQR poll from May, when Luna led Fox 51% to 46% before Fox formally won the Democratic nomination.