Leela Gray

And she's up against someone I've met, actually, a very impressive former Air Force brigadier.

A woman called Leela Gray, who's never been in politics in her life, never assumed she would ever get into politics, saw Anna Paulina Luna and thought, I can do better than that for the people of Florida.

This is the 13th district, I think I said.

And super impressive, talked about responsibility, talked about being a servant leader and just seems, well, it just seems altogether in a different category.

I was impressed.

Leela Gray, Florida 13.

Jay Martin, it's going to be a fun few days.

You're headed down to Mississippi, right, to see Bill Clinton and...

If this ends up being a really big wave election for Democrats that reaches Florida, I do think Florida's got a bit of a red wall here.

I don't know that it's going to hold quite like it has in past elections, but if it were a big blue wave that made its way through Florida today, that would be a race where if Leela Gray were to pull it out, that would be an indication that, boy, Democrats are going to have a really, really good day.

Sabato's crystal ball also shifted the U.S. Senate race between Republican Ashley Moody and Democrat Angie Nixon.

From safe Republican to likely Republicans, a little shift towards the Democrats there.

I gotta believe that Hegseth, much less Trump, had no idea what they were in for when they started purging the senior ranks of the military.

Do you think they ever expected a General Gray and an Admiral Laubacher and you to jump into the fray and to push back and to, instead of going quietly into the night, to continue your service to this country running for Congress?

I'm sure they didn't anticipate that.

And, you know, I mean, they had one goal was to, you know, make the senior ranks of the military loyal to them.

You know, and it's interesting, though, when you look at me and Leela Gray and Eileen Laubacher, who all kind of ended our careers at different moments, right? Mine in 2025, Eileen Laubacher had retired a year prior, and then Leela has been out for quite a bit of time, you know, enough time to go get a law degree.

But the fact that we're all being called back in at this moment, I think is very telling.

And, you know, I know, I mean, I speak with them and we are all concerned about the same things about the course our country is on.

I really do.

Welcome back to the Lincoln Project Podcast.

The election is roaring up on us at a very high rate of speed, and I am so delighted to get to talk to Leela Gray today.

Leila is the Democratic nominee in the 13th Congressional District of Florida, an area I know well.

It's my old stomping grounds, and it's an area that is a seat that is so important this year, not only because it matters about the representation in that district, But because it's the district currently held by Anna Paulina Luna, one of the most egregious and weird and destructive forces in the MAGAverse.

Leela Gray is a retired Army Brigadier General.

She has a distinguished career.

I want to welcome you to the show, Leela, and let's get started.

It's about leadership over chaos.

I mean, we've got Nancy LaCour, a three star Navy admiral running in Charleston.

We've got Leela Gray, a one star Brigadier General running in Florida.

We have a smokejumper in Montana.

We have a union leader in Pennsylvania.

... ssional district.

Attorneys for Republican congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna sent a cease and desist letter to her Democratic opponent, Leela Gray.

Luna's attorneys say claims in a campaign ad are false.

Here is part of that ad.