In November, US Congressman Anna Paulina Luna scored around 10 points for re-election to the Pineras district.
Her district is solid red, but not as conservative as some districts. Democrats dream of turning it over.
A new report from the Conservative Legislative Analysis Institute found that Luna would not vote to represent anything closer to the swing district.
In 2024, Luna’s second year in Parliament, she voted about 92% of the time to reduce the size or scope of the government.
Her score was higher than all Republicans in Florida, except for former US Rep. Matt Gaetz and US Rep. Byron Donald. (Getz resigned from Congress in November after President Donald Trump appointed him as U.S. Attorney General, but his nomination fell amid a sexual scandal.)
Luna represents a part of Pinellas County, which has become more conservative in recent years, but has a history of electing moderate Republicans and Democrats for decades.
Her dedication to limited government earned Luna an A+ from the Institute. It wants to build “the nation’s most advanced legislative database and parliamentary evaluation platform for free movements.”
Scorecards are useful in understanding how lawmakers vote, but are often incomplete, Institute president Fred McGrath said in an interview.
To give voters a better idea of what lawmakers are doing in Washington, McGrath’s group devised an indicator that counts how often elected officials vote to increase the size or scope of their government. His researchers adjusted hundreds of votes, each weighing based on how consequential the policy was. For example, obscure regulations were not heavier than major tax bills. Social issues such as abortion have been excluded.
The group then compared the indicators to the political composition of the districts of elected officials and assigned a “alignment” score. Those who voted more conservatively than their district were given a positive score.
Luna scored the ninth highest alignment score in the house, beating conservative fire brands like Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia and Thomas Massey of Kentucky. Luna scored the highest score in Florida. A Luna spokesman did not respond to requests for comment.
“Our ultimate goal here is to provide a truly new level of transparency and accountability,” McGrath said. “No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, I want you to be accountable for what politicians are saying to you on the campaign trajectory.”
The Institute measured votes in 2024, so it does not include some members of the Florida Legislature. Senator Ashley Moody and his representatives. Randy Fine and Jimmy Patronis were appointed to office this year.
Generally, Florida council representatives performed as expected when compared to the district. Their combined alignment score was -1.5. So, the GOP members of Florida’s Congress were actually slightly more liberal than their district.
Florida Democrats were slightly more liberal than the district, with a total alignment score of -3.3.
The scores for each Tampa Bay Area council representative are as follows:
Republican Rep. Gus Bilirakis: -10
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna: +15
Democrat Cathy Caster: -8
Republican Rep. Laurel Lee: +2
Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan: -9
