{"id":2342367,"date":"2024-09-17T14:51:01","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T18:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-republican-rejects-challengers-demand-for-debate-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-17T14:53:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T18:53:24","slug":"florida-republican-rejects-challengers-demand-for-debate-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/florida-republican-rejects-challengers-demand-for-debate-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Republican rejects challenger&#8217;s demand for debate &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fflorida-republican-rejects-challengers-demand-for-debate-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2342367&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a \u200brecent political\u2064 controversy, Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, rejected calls from her Democratic \u200cchallenger, \u200bWhitney Fox, for a debate in their House race. Luna expressed her belief that \u200bthe seat is secure for Republicans and \u2064criticized \u200dFox for allegedly allowing her supporters to engage in doxing\u2014a practice of publicly identifying \u200dand threatening individuals. Luna stated she wouldn&#8217;t waste time on a debate that she deemed unnecessary, insisting instead on focusing on\u2062 her \u2063representation of the community.<\/p>\n<p>Whitney Fox has accused Luna of\u2064 being \u2064unresponsive and hiding from\u2063 voters, emphasizing that Floridians \u200cdeserve \u2064a representative willing to engage in \u200cmeaningful discussions. The Blue Dog PAC, a centrist Democratic group backing Fox, has criticized Luna for not revealing her position on Amendment 4,\u2063 a referendum that seeks to enshrine \u200dabortion rights in Florida&#8217;s constitution. Luna&#8217;s past anti-abortion \u2063stance \u200chas drawn \u200cscrutiny, and there are calls for her to clarify her current views on the issue. The political tension between\u2062 the two candidates highlights significant divisions\u2062 within\u200b the race leading up to the November elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Florida Republican rejects Democratic challenger&rsquo;s demand for debate in House race: &lsquo;Won&rsquo;t waste my time&rsquo;<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1762556\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/anna-paulina-luna\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Anna Paulina Luna<\/a> (R-FL) has rejected Whitney Fox&rsquo;s demand for a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/debates\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>debate<\/a> after she accused the Democratic challenger of pushing supporters to &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3154619\/luna-accuses-democratic-opponent-allowing-supporters-dox-threaten-her\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>dox<\/a>&rdquo; her.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Whitney and the Blue Dog PAC, a centrist Democratic group supporting her, have pressed Luna repeatedly for a debate.<\/p>\n<p>Luna told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> that the &ldquo;seat is not in play&rdquo; and that Fox allowed &ldquo;supporters to dox me and my family,&rdquo; and doesn&rsquo;t &ldquo;belong in office.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I won&rsquo;t waste my time or Pinellas residents&rsquo; by pretending like it is a possibility,&rdquo; Luna said. &ldquo;I look forward to continuing to represent our wonderful community in D.C. this November. Hate has no place here.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Luna recently accused Fox of allowing &ldquo;her supporters on her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/get-ready-for-a-plethora-of-election-deniers-and-this-time-the-media-will-be-cohorts\/\" title=\"Get Ready For A Plethora Of Election Deniers (And This Time, The Media Will Be Cohorts)\">campaign social media<\/a> to publicly dox, coordinate, and solicit individuals to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/luna-accuses-democratic-opponent-of-allowing-supporters-to-dox-and-threaten-her-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Luna accuses Democratic opponent of allowing supporters to dox and threaten her - Washington Examiner\">send threatening packages<\/a> to my home address.&rdquo; Luna also shared a screenshot of a Facebook <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/realannapaulina\/status\/1834941031571181606\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>comment<\/a> that suggested someone should send something to her home address.<\/p>\n<p>Fox, the former communications director for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, posted a video on X blasting Luna for pushing &ldquo;divisive and extreme ideas&rdquo; and failing to respond to her debate request.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Floridians deserve a representative who shows up and listens,&rdquo; Fox said. &ldquo;Instead, Anna Paulina Luna has been in hiding. No town halls, no real conversations. Just pushing divisive and extreme ideas like a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/all-lives-matter-arkansas-gov-signs-near-total-abortion-ban-that-supporters-hope-will-force-scotus-to-revisit-roe-v-wade\/\" title=\"\u2018All Lives Matter\u2019: Arkansas Gov. Signs Near-Total Abortion Ban That Supporters Hope Will Force SCOTUS To Revisit Roe v. Wade\">total abortion ban<\/a>. It&rsquo;s been one week since I&rsquo;ve challenged Anna Paulina Luna to a debate. Unfortunately, I haven&rsquo;t heard anything from her.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It&rsquo;s been a week and Anna Paulina Luna is still hiding from my debate challenge. Is she scared to defend her extreme, out-of-touch views? Or is she too busy wasting taxpayer money on partisan stunts? Voters deserve to hear from both of us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I&rsquo;m ready Anna, are you?<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WheresLuna?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WheresLuna<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Ox5jMX82cz\">pic.twitter.com\/Ox5jMX82cz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Whitney Fox for Congress (FL-13) (@whitfox) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/whitfox\/status\/1834208761864495134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The Blue Dog PAC has also blasted Luna for not revealing her stance on Amendment 4, a ballot measure in Florida that would enshrine abortion in the state&rsquo;s constitution. Paulina has held an anti-abortion line in the past but recently<a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/newsletters\/florida-playbook\/2024\/09\/13\/luna-dodges-on-amendment-4-00179041\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title> told<\/a> <em>Politico<\/em> that &ldquo;it&rsquo;s a states&rsquo; rights issue.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;After being called out by her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrat-congressman-snubs-top-democrat-when-asked-who-hed-like-to-see-run-for-president\/\" title=\"Democrat Congressman declines to name preferred presidential candidate.\">home state governor<\/a> twice, it&rsquo;s getting increasingly untenable for Anna Paulina Luna to stay quiet about Amendment 4,&rdquo; Blue Dog PAC spokesman Phil Gardner said. &ldquo;Of course, we all know that given her long anti-abortion history, she&rsquo;s going to vote against it, but she&rsquo;s just too scared to tell the voters the truth. That&rsquo;s probably why she&rsquo;s also too scared to debate Whitney Fox. The voters deserve better.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The race between Fox and Luna looks to be competitive. Luna does have a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-and-clinton-try-to-avoid-taking-spotlight-away-from-biden-at-star-studded-fundraiser\/\" title=\"Obama and Clinton aim to support Biden without overshadowing him at a celebrity-filled fundraising event\">considerable cash advantage<\/a> over Fox, leading her with about $2.3 million raised to Fox&rsquo;s $845,000. As of July 31, Fox only had about $119,000 in cash on hand to Luna&rsquo;s $917,000, according to FEC <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/elections\/house\/FL\/13\/2024\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>records<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Polling has been inconsistent in the district. An Aug. 27 poll sponsored by Florida Politics surveyed 843 likely voters and showed Fox with a 4-point lead. However, an Aug. 28-29 poll of 400 likely voters sponsored by the Republican-leaning Club for Growth showed Luna with a 5-point lead.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The district elected Luna in 2022 by about 8 points in her second try at Florida&rsquo;s 13th Congressional District seat. She lost to former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in 2020 by 6 points.<\/p>\n<p>Decision Desk HQ gives Luna a 90% chance of <a href=\"https:\/\/elections2024.thehill.com\/forecast\/2024\/house\/florida-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>winning<\/a> reelection. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1762556\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1762556\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Florida Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna has dismissed Democratic challenger Whitney Fox&#8217;s request for a debate, stating she won&#8217;t &#8220;waste my time.&#8221; Luna accused Fox of encouraging her supporters to &#8220;dox&#8221; her, which involves publicly revealing personal information. Despite repeated calls from Fox and the Blue Dog PAC, a centrist Democratic organization backing her campaign, Luna maintains that the seat is secure and criticized Fox for allowing threats against her family. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Luna expressed her intention to continue representing her community in Washington D.C., emphasizing that hate has no place in politics.<\/p>\n<p>Fox, who previously served as communications director for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, responded by criticizing Luna for promoting &#8220;divisive and extreme ideas&#8221; and not engaging with voters through town halls or discussions. She highlighted that it has been a week since she challenged Luna to a debate without any response.<\/p>\n<p>The Blue Dog PAC also criticized Luna for not clarifying her position on Amendment 4\u2014a proposed measure aimed at protecting abortion rights in Florida\u2014pointing out that while she has historically opposed abortion, she recently referred to it as a states&#8217; rights issue. The spokesperson suggested that fear of backlash is preventing Luna from being transparent with voters about both Amendment 4 and participating in debates.<\/p>\n<p>The race between Fox and Luna appears competitive; however, financial records show that Luna holds a significant fundraising advantage over Fox. Polling results have varied within the district: one poll indicated Fox leading by four points while another showed Luna ahead by five points. In 2022, voters elected Luna by an eight-point margin after she previously lost to Charlie Crist in 2020 by six points. Decision Desk HQ currently estimates there\u2019s a 90% chance of re-election for Luna<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2342368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/MixCollage-17-Sep-2024-11-47-AM-1079-scaled-e1726598735877-1024x575.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[3896,3728,5113,5894,3911],"class_list":["post-2342367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-debate","tag-election","tag-florida","tag-politics","tag-republican"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/MixCollage-17-Sep-2024-11-47-AM-1079-scaled-e1726598735877-1024x575.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2342367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2342367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2342368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2342367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2342367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2342367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}