Retired U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Leela Gray filed for the race on Feb. 3 and was endorsed by Whitney Fox, who previously challenged Rep. Luna for her seat and lost in November 2024. Days later, Florida Politics reported that Gray’s campaign announced a $150,000 year-end fundraising report.
Gray’s campaign did not share with CL how it is being funded or whether she has a PAC.
She’s one of nine candidates in the Democratic primary where candidates hope to replace Rep. Luna.
In a Feb. 3 press release, Fox praised Gray.
“When my campaign ended in 2024, I promised myself that when the right candidate came along, I wouldn’t hesitate to endorse her, support her and share everything I learned competing in this district,” Fox said in a press release. “Leela is that candidate.”
Gray told CL that “service over self” still guides her after decades of service and that the problems in Pinellas County led her to run. Her campaign mainly concentrates on the cost of living, especially after she has witnessed the rise in housing prices and insurance rates while living in the Tampa Bay area since 2003.
Gray, 59, said Congress hasn’t sufficiently addressed affordability issues in the region, from grocery and childcare expenses to housing and healthcare.
“That is not just an economic issue,” Gray told CL. “It is a collapse of Congressional leadership that permits unchecked corporate greed and skyrocketing prices.”
Gray believes Rep. Luna—and most federal politicians—have failed to prioritize residents’ concerns about those issues.
“Those are not abstract concerns,” Gray told CL. “That is kitchen-table math, and she is not focused on solving it.”
Though Gray respects Rep. Luna’s service in the National Guard as well as her efforts to ban Congressional insider trading, she feels that “Washington has changed [Luna], and she hasn’t changed Washington.”
As for herself, Gray told CL that while she appreciates the opportunity to meet Ford and Robinson and respects their initiative, her experience of 14 years in the private sector and three decades in the military has granted her a “unique skillset” to lead.
“Congress is broken and Washington is a tough place,” Gray said. “We need someone who can arrive there on day one with the core skills in place to put people first.”
In fact, Gray, like Ford, said she believes her experience has taught her especially about holding federal politicians accountable for systemic issues which bleed into local government.
“I learned accountability and the importance of good stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and when something goes wrong, you do not blame circumstances,” Gray told CL. “You own it. You fix it. That culture of accountability is missing in Washington.”
Though Gray’s campaign did not share her views on gun control, climate issues or national security, a Feb. 28 press release detailed her support for American soldiers following missile strikes on U.S. bases in the Middle East, which occurred in response to the United States and Israel’s airstrikes on Iran’s defense and nuclear facilities.
“I’ve served in that region and walked the ground at many of the bases that took incoming today,” Gray said. “I know the environment, and I know the kind of professionals we have forward deployed. The United States has the best trained, best led military in the world. Our people prepare for this. They trust their training, their equipment and each other.”
“At the same time, this moment underscores something critical about our constitutional balance: Congress’s Article I role isn’t ceremonial,” Gray continued. “Our leaders must ensure clear, achievable objectives and a defined outcome before we commit forces into harm’s way. That responsibility matters now more than ever.”
Ford, Gray and Robinson will be at the next Congressional District 13 Candidate Forum on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. The Democratic Hispanic Caucus of Pinellas County will host the event at La Mordida Restaurant Grill and Bar, located at 14100 US Highway 19 N. More candidates will join the forum, including Susan Leff, John Fay, John Liccione and Karla Kemp.
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This article appears in Mar. 05 – 11, 2026.