TAMPA, Fla. — Two ads released within days of each other show how corruption has become a central theme in the race for the congressional seat held by GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.

Retired Brig. Gen. Leela Gray, the Democrat running against Luna in her red-leaning district, released her first general election ad Tuesday, touting her 30 years of military service and combat deployment while knocking Luna as “part of the problem in D.C., including the culture of corruption.”

The ad comes less than a week after Luna released a campaign ad titled “Lying” that knocks Gray for stock investments in companies funding the data center boom, like Nvidia and Alphabet, and in pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer. Those stocks are largely managed by a third party, Fisher Investments, according to Gray’s financial disclosures.

David Leatherwood, a spokesperson for Luna’s campaign, slammed Gray’s stock investments in a statement. He also pointed to an internal Republican poll from August that shows Gray behind. A Democratic poll had her up by about five points against Luna.

“She has no platform other than running on things Rep. Luna has done and led the charge on,” he said.

Luna’s ad draws a comparison by emphasizing her own support for a ban on congressional stock trading.

The candidates are sparring over corruption in a bid to appeal to District 13’s voters, who skew older, white and Republican. After the Florida GOP’s rare mid-decade redistricting push, the district has kept much of its Pinellas County footprint north of downtown St. Petersburg while adding a sliver of coastal Pasco County.

Voters across the new district favored President Donald Trump by more than 13 points in 2024. Political ratings services consider the seat “likely Republican.”

Democrats are making Luna’s seat a key target as they vie to reclaim control of the U.S. House. A similar attempt in 2024 fell flat, with Democrat Whitney Fox losing to Luna by nearly 10 points.

But the party is hoping Trump’s underwater approval ratings will hurt Luna, whose personal brand is closely tied to the president’s.

Meanwhile, Luna is painting Gray, who has tried to appeal to moderates with her military service and anti-corruption platform, as hypocritical.

“Liberal Leela Gray is lying,” a voiceover says in Luna’s ad, which is airing on digital platforms like Meta and YouTube. “She talks tough on data centers but owns stock in the companies building them. Attacks big pharma while invested in them. Claims housing’s too expensive but invests in banks pricing you out of buying a home.”

Gray’s campaign dismissed Luna’s attack as “baseless” while calling on Luna to accept a debate challenge. The Democrat’s platform also advocates for a ban on individual stock trades by members of Congress.

Gray’s ad tries to put the spotlight back on Luna.

“She’s giving insider information to her donor while our costs are out of control,” Gray says in the 30-second ad, set to run on television and digital platforms, according to her campaign.

Gray is referring to allegations from anonymous sources, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, that Luna gave insider information on Trump’s vice president pick to GOP influencer Rogan O’Handley so he could place a winning bet in a political prediction market.

Luna has fiercely denied that she had access to that information and said she filed a criminal complaint with the trading commission that regulates betting markets, alleging that someone made false reports to the agency. Last month, she publicized a Department of Justice letter that said she is not under investigation by that agency for insider trading.

Luna used her speech at Republicans’ midterm convention in Dallas last week to again call for a ban on congressional stock trading.

“Ultimately, corruption has no party. It is a threat to us all,” she said.

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