Military veterans Anna Paulina Luna, Leela Gray compete for Florida's 13th Congressional District seat

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Democratic candidate Leela Gray are competing to represent Florida's 13th Congressional District in the U.S. House.

Military veterans square off

The backstory:

The race for Pinellas County's congressional seat features two military veterans with distinct professional backgrounds. Luna, who served in the U.S. Air Force, currently holds the seat and serves on both the Oversight and Government Reform committee and the Foreign Affairs committee. Gray, a retired Army brigadier general, previously commanded the 86th Training Division and served in strategic communications roles counteracting terrorist propaganda.

Key issues define contest

What they're saying:

Luna has drawn attention for her legislative work on UFO investigations, congressional stock trading bans and congressional oversight. Gray has criticized recent federal economic policies, pointing to concerns over SNAP and Medicaid adjustments while arguing that tariffs and military actions in Iran have raised gas prices for local consumers.

Redrawn district impacts race

By the numbers:

The electoral map in Pinellas County was recently redrawn, pushing district boundaries further into conservative territory. While Luna previously won election by 10 percentage points, updated district boundaries created a wider margin based on recent presidential vote tallies, making the district an uphill climb for challengers.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered from official campaign statements and public congressional records and previous FOX 13 News reports.