New polling suggests that Florida’s 13th Congressional District could be in play for Democrats in this year’s elections. The district is currently represented by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R), a prominent and outspoken Trump supporter in her first term in Congress.
The polling was the work of Democratic primary candidate Whitney Fox, and respondents were asked a series of questions, including who they’d support in a face-off between any Republican and any Democrat and who they’d back if the candidates were specifically Fox and the current Republican incumbent. Luna had a slim lead in the latter scenario. Respondents were then provided brief descriptions of the candidates’ respective positions, highlighting claimed stances from the incumbent on abortion — after which Fox led by two percent.
After those competing descriptions of the candidates were provided to respondents, Fox had 49 percent of the support, while Luna had 47 percent.
The district’s most recent representative before Luna was Democrat Charlie Crist, though there has been redistricting apparently altering the district’s lean. Crist ran unsuccessfully for governor in the 2022 midterm elections, though he held that role previously.
The Democratic primary in the district deciding the specific candidate to face Luna won’t be until August, technically leaving a lot of time in which the race could further shift.
At a state level, Florida has trended towards the Republicans in recent years, with Donald Trump actually increasing his winning margin in the state in 2020 compared to four years prior. And in the race in which Crist lost in 2022, incumbent Republican Ron DeSantis won another four years as Florida governor by a staggeringly large margin. This time around, Florida will also have a Senate election on the ballot, with incumbent Republican Rick Scott — himself a former governor — seeking another term against expected challenger Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former Florida Democratic Congresswoman.
