NYT: Whitney Fox “is a perfect foil” for Anti-Abortion Extremist Anna Paulina Luna

I was curious about the race because the front-runner in the Democratic primary at the time, Whitney Fox, is a perfect foil for Representative Luna. They're both in their 30s, telegenic, married mothers of young children, both raised by single mothers.

When I spoke to Ms. Fox in St. Petersburg ahead of the August primary, she was sharply critical of Ms. Luna's legislation. "It has no substance and it's not going to go anywhere," Ms. Fox said, spicy while still smiling, and mentioning that Ms. Luna took her name off a broader bipartisan I.V.F. bill before presenting her own. "That's what most of her bills do. She'll say that she's for women and for families and for mothers. But when you actually read what policy she's putting forward or fighting for, it's not supportive."

The Democratic field was so crowded in part because Ms. Luna is a Trump acolyte and Freedom Caucus member, which makes her vulnerable in a district that Mr. Trump lost to Mr. Biden in 2020, where around 29 percent of registered voters in Pinellas County aren't affiliated with either major party and around 33 percent are Democrats. When only about 38 percent of voters are Republicans, an aggressively MAGA candidate risks losing the majority.

Ms. Luna's political ascent was very much in the Trump mold - she rose to prominence as a scrappy right-wing influencer - and her bombastic public persona has been fashioned in the former president's image. She took time out of her busy legislative schedule in May to attend Mr. Trump's Manhattan criminal trial and appeared in his V.I.P. box at the Republican National Convention in July.

But even retaining that built-in advantage, Ms. Luna is so divisive that she "is the type of Republican who could underperform Trump" in Florida, said Erin Covey, who leads the Cook Political Report's coverage of House races, when I talked to her in June.

It may also help Ms. Fox that abortion is on the ballot this fall in Florida, which creates another obvious distinction between the two candidates and may increase turnout among young women, who lean Democratic. When Ms. Luna, who is anti-abortion, presents herself as uniquely situated to address the concerns of working parents or women's health, Ms. Fox, who supports abortion rights, can easily strike back without being pilloried as a childless cat lady.

Florida currently has a six-week abortion ban. If Amendment 4 passes in November, Floridians would have the right to abortion up until the point of viability, which is around 24 weeks.

Ms. Fox supports Amendment 4, while Ms. Luna has previously referred to herself as a "pro-life extremist," and she explained to EWTN Pro-Life Weekly in 2023 that she does not believe in exceptions for "terrible circumstances " because of her husband's experience as the product of rape.

A poll from late July shows that 69 percent of voters support Amendment 4, which needs 60 percent of the vote to pass.

Ms. Fox told me that Ms. Luna's previous opposition to abortion rights was part of what motivated her to get into the race. Ms. Fox doesn't want her daughters growing up in a state where they have fewer rights than women of her generation have had. "We are two young women running against each other and we both have young children and we have completely different ideas of family policies and reproductive rights " she said of Ms. Luna. "I think we're going to be able to really go head-to-head on those issues from personal places."

But Ms. Fox doesn't just appeal to pro-choice constituents. She is a talented politician who understands her district. She told me about home insurance costs that are out of control and increasingly exorbitant for Florida seniors on a fixed income, and the danger of red tide algae bloom on the local tourism industry.

I heard from several people who are not yellow dog democrats that Ms. Fox has gone out of her way to forge relationships with them, and to show that she's ready for the unglamorous day-to-day work of legislating.