MAGA Purge? Florida Dem Gives Radical Republican a Run for Her Money! | Bulwark Takes

hey y'all it's Tim Miller from the bull workk uh you know we've been doing this thing where bringing in politicians kind of catch my eye uh who are in interesting campaigns ahead of the November election uh so we've got another one for you today Whitney Fox she's running in Florida 13 which is kind of the Tampa St Pete uh area it's a republican District right now being represented by one of the more Maga members of Congress Anna Paulina Luna friend of Matt Gates and a recent poll had Whitney Fox uh beating her and so I was like well we got to talk about this race so uh Whitney welcome to the bwar thanks so much for having me Tim really appreciate you being here hey happy Do It um tell us a little bit about yourself and and this race uh and uh your background sure well I was born and raised right here in the Tampa Bay area and now I'm raising two little girls of my own and most recently I've been working for our public transportation system here in pelis County I was the director of communications and marketing but also worked on legislative priorities uh working with our local state and federal Democrats and Republicans to actually get things done for our district move projects forward and you know having two little girls of my own it really was having my first baby that lit a fire in me to decide to run for office I just remember holding my newborn as my husband opened up the medical bills and I thought what are we doing you know the medical bills the lack of paid pren to Le the lack of affordable child care it really struck me that this can't possibly be the way that we are starting off families in America in a ditch for them to climb out of so that coupled with the fact that now my two little girls are growing up with fewer rights than I did I decided I had to stand up and do something about it and like you just mentioned Tim our current representative Anna Palina Luna is one of the most extreme members of Congress and this is not an extreme District this is a pragmatic District of moderate voters and they are eager for new leadership yeah let's talk about that a little bit I mean are there areas where you see yourself potentially as you know wanting to compromise or or you know kind of issues or topics that kind of jump out as things you you'd want to focus on uh if you won in Congress absolutely well you know obviously I'm running as a Democrat but I tell people I'm running as a Democrat who's willing to work with Republicans to actually get things done and that's what we deserve so I've been endorsed by groups like The Welcome pack and also blue dogs as well because they see that I'm running a campaign that's really welcoming to everyone and we have many Republicans here in the district who see Anna Pina Luna is not representing their values because of how far right extreme she is now there are issues that are important to voters in my district like immigration and I support immigration reform and agree that we need to secure our border so are there are issues like that that obviously I'm willing to talk to the voters and understand what their concerns are and make sure that we can go to DC and actually work with each other to move progress forward on these different issues this is an interesting concept working with Republic on issues because on the flip side your opponent got some attention earlier this year uh by uh putting forth a demand that we arrest the Attorney General Merrick Garland that's what she that that was that's what that's what she was doing up in Congress talk to us about one of the the things yes and she I believe she spent months on that issue to call for the arrest of Meritt Garland and that's just it Tim you know our district the voters here they see that she's done nothing but cause chaos during her time in DC she's just chasing culture wore headlines I mean she was a social media influencer before she ran for office and that's just what she's doing okay hold on now let's not start insulting social media influencers okay I'm we're doing okay I'm doing okay I'm just I'm just joking yeah yeah not exactly the not exactly kind of the basis that generally you'd want for public servant sure well my point by saying that is just that's all she knows how to do while she's in DC is where can I get the media attention where can I get the the um attention online and what can I do like calling to have Merit land arrested that's going to get this attention so I mean she threatens to shut down the government any chance she gets she tried to have Adam Schiff censored I mean we we see her just constantly doing things in DC that are not affecting the day-to-day lives of the people here in the district and when I'm going door too talking to voters you know what when I ask them what issue is top of mind for you what do you care about you know what they don't tell me is I would like to have Meritt Garland arrested but they're talking to me about the affordability crisis Housing Home Insurance here in Florida is a huge issue and they're concerned about this attack on our reproductive freedoms I mean there are many seniors here in this District who are becoming homeless because they're on a fixed income and they can't afford the rising cost of living so we are have serious issues that need to be addressed here in the district and she is nowhere to be found she has never held a town hall she's not talking to the voters here she's hardly ever in the district itself so they're eager for someone who's actually going to go to DC and work for them it's interesting she's never out of town hall cuz all those Republicans are shouting at KLA Harris about not taking enough questions uh she's she's very Maga right and I I just wonder like as you talk to like we're never trumpers here at the bullwark many of us used to be Republicans um they're not all of us and and so there are these kind of traditional Republicans that see this difference I mean Anna Paulina she's like she's pictured in a magga swimsuit you know she's got herself with all the different AR-15 guns and and in the pictures I mean she like looks to Matt Gates's kind her Congressional model I mean like there has to be a way to kind of wedge like her culture War magga priorities from you know some of these voters that are just more about you know wanting smaller government or Traditional Values or things of that nature well you're also forgetting there Tim that she wrote a children's book about how the 2020 election was stolen so yes I I'll have to I'll have to track that one down for my first grader we haven't uh we haven't made it to that in the library yet oh gosh no I it I'm sure in the panel schools you don't want to have the book where the Penguins where the gay penguins have a child you don't want to have that book we got to get that out of the school and replace it with Anna pina's children's book about election fraud I guess right well and and I wish I could I mean you can't write this stuff I'm not making this up it's a it's a book for children about an orange and a banana who are running a foot race you got it you're quick Tim and they're running a foot race and the banana cheats to win the race so it it's it's quite alarming but I mean your spot on Tim that's that's the thing in our district we have like I said this is not a Matt Gates District it's an R plus6 District a third of our voters are Independents and we know that we've got you know a a chance here defeating Anna PL Aluna because we're concentrating on the issues and we're listening to the voters of what what matters to them and we're putting plans together to make sure we can address those issues once elected to congress but to your point I'm not running for office because she's a republican I'm running because she is so extreme in her stances on the issues and as you're probably familiar with the Heritage Foundation who's behind project 2025 and they give ratings to members of Congress and the average rating for a republican is 75% Luna has gotten a rating of 98% one of the highest of any member of Congress so it it's really not does not align with the values that we have here in the district and there was a recent article actually this um a few weeks ago in the New York Times about our race and there were multiple Republicans from the district who were interviewed for that article and they spoke about the fact that you know they are putting you know country overp Party by not supporting her because she has done nothing for the people here so on the gun thing in particular this is something we've been talking about around here obviously there was a school shooting last week in Georgia um after the Parkland shooting in Florida actually the parties work together to to put some pretty real reforms in place um as far as red flag laws things of that nature I was at a Gates event I was covering it a couple months ago at a gun shop up in the Panhandle and they're talking about now how they're trying to repeal those reforms and and put constitutional carry in and things of this nature I and for for a district like yours like is there a way for you know Democrats are sometimes scared to talk about this issue there is there a way to talk about guns that you think can kind of address the problem and reach out to the big middle of the country without necessarily you know talking about gun grabbing or whatever right well and I think it's it's just really pointing out to the voters that no one's trying to take away anyone's guns and that is obviously a fear-mongering that people like Anna pool Luna will say and to your point talking about this awful another mass shooting that just happened I mean you probably know that Anna Palina Luna wore an AR-15 lapel pin on the house floor just days after a shooting so the the way way we talk about it is how we talk about everything with Anna POA Luna is that she's so out of touch with this district and and so extreme on these types of issues and obviously the fact that we just believe that we should check and make sure that nobody has a history of violence before they're allowed to to have access to a gun and the majority of Voters agree with that so when we're talking about these issues we're making it clear let's talk about the actual truth of what we're talking about with policy versus the rhetoric that someone like Luna is going to say because I'm a Democrat yeah with this debate week and so since you're talking to swing voters in that District Florida's probably not going to be a swing state for KLA Harris but you know the the types of people you're talking to in Tampa are similar to the types of people she's going to have to try to reach in Charlotte and and Atlanta and these other swing States um any any advice any thoughts uh going into the debate you know I think for for anyone who's running for office it's just concentrating on the issues and and what the plan is to make sure that you are addressing the issues and policies that people care about you know I think that staying away from any of the the culture War conversations is really what what I'm hearing is what the voters want to to see so that's why we're doing so well in our race is because that seems to be all that Luna wants to talk about but they're really attracted to this campaign and my candidacy because I'm listening to the issues they care about and we're actually talking about and saying focus on the issues that are going to better their day-to-day lives all right Whitney Fox anything else any fun stories any Florida man stories for us from the trail or other other anecdotes you want to leave people with well I'll leave you with one story you know I I usually wear my name tag or a a Whitney Fox for congress logo whenever I leave the house I definitely make sure I have something on and I I went to meet a friend of mine a few months back outside of the district in Tampa we went to rocos tacos for taco happy hour and we bellied up to the bar for our tacos and there was an older couple sitting next to me and we they looked at my name tag and they said are you Whitney fox running for congress and I said yes I am and they just so happened to live in my district over here in pelis County so we were talking about the issues and the husband said to me you know I volunteered for campaign once before I can Vis for RONA santis and I said well good for you we should all volunteer for something we believe in but the wife was asking me questions about why I decided to run we're talking about our Reproductive Rights we're talking about my children showing her pictures of my girl she's showing me pictures of her grandkids and when they finished their meal and went to leave the husband said goodbye and walked a little bit ahead but the wife stayed behind and she leaned over to me and she said I just want you to know I'll be looking for your name on the ballot this November and this is how we're going to win is we're having honest conversations with people to hear what issues they care about and just being authentic and telling them how we plan to address them so we're feeling incredibly um optimistic about this race and especially the fact that it's the most competitive Congressional race in the State of Florida yeah it's going to be a tight one good luck out there get back on the trail thanks for send spending some time with us and uh you know one fewer AR-15 lapel pin in Congress in 2025 would be something I think we could all get behind so thanks a bunch Whitney Fox it's Florida 13 folks who want to support her campaign you can go check out her website we'll put it in the show notes here and uh we'll be back soon make sure to subscribe to the feed thanks