Leela Gray campaigns on affordability and veterans issues in Pinellas County race

Leela Gray, a retired Army brigadier general, is campaigning to unseat Republican incumbent Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna in Florida's Congressional District 13, which covers most of Pinellas County outside St. Petersburg, WUSF reported.

Gray's campaign centers on affordability, health care, and veterans issues, emphasizing the cost-of-living crisis affecting families and businesses in the community. She criticized Luna for prioritizing donors over constituents.

Gray highlighted her military service, including three deployments and four commands, contrasting her leadership experience with Luna's, whom she accused of serving herself and her donors.

She also pledged to challenge corporations and insurance monopolies that drive up premiums and supports a middle-class tax cut, according to WUSF's voter guide.

The district was redrawn by the Republican-led Florida Legislature to be more favorable to Republicans by removing blue-leaning areas such as St. Petersburg and Gulfport. Luna won the last election in 2024 by about 10 percentage points against a Democrat opponent.