Anna Paulina Luna Bio
Anna Paulina Luna (née Mayerhofer; born May 6, 1989) is an American politician and United States Air Force veteran who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida’s 13th congressional district since 2023. A Republican, she is the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress from Florida. She serves on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and has maintained a strongly conservative voting record.
Before her election to Congress, Luna served in the Air National Guard from 2009 to 2014, worked as a model and social media influencer, and served as director of Hispanic engagement for Turning Point USA. She earned a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of West Florida in 2017 and currently resides in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Early Life and Background
Anna Paulina Mayerhofer was born on May 6, 1989, in Santa Ana, California, to George Mayerhofer and Monica Todd, an elementary school teacher and stay-at-home mother. Her father had Mexican and German ancestry, with his mother born in Hidalgo, Mexico, and his father born in Germany. Her mother has Mexican-American ancestry, and her two maternal great-grandfathers served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. Her parents never married or lived together.
Luna was raised primarily by her mother in the Orange County cities of Santa Ana, Irvine, and Aliso Viejo, as well as Los Angeles, and has called Santa Monica her hometown. She attended high school in Los Angeles and has said that she grew up in the household relying on government assistance, raised in what she described as a broken home mentality. Her father struggled with drug addiction and spent time in and out of incarceration; she has said that at the age of ten, she found her father’s bag of meth. Her maternal grandmother was a long-time heroin user and was HIV positive.
In 2019, Anna and her mother took the maternal grandmother’s maiden name, Luna, as an homage to her Hispanic heritage, replacing the Mayerhofer surname. Luna has said that her father raised her to follow Messianic Judaism, an evangelical movement that incorporates Jewish traditions into Protestant Christianity. Members of her extended family have disputed this claim, saying her father was Catholic. Her mother has said that Luna’s father was a Christian who embraced the Messianic faith after becoming clean from drug addiction.
Path to US Politics
Luna served in the United States Air Force from 2009 to 2014 as an airfield management specialist, stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri and Hurlburt Field in Florida. She was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for her service. While serving, she began studying at a local college, and she also pursued modeling, appearing in Sports Illustrated’s online site in 2013, in Maxim magazine’s swimsuit edition in 2014, and building a large following on Instagram as a social media influencer.
After earning a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of West Florida in 2017, Luna transitioned into political organizing. In 2018, she became the director of Hispanic engagement for Turning Point USA, the conservative youth organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk. That November, a Fox News segment featured her comparing Hillary Clinton to herpes, an appearance the network cut short after on-air apologies from the hosts. In 2020, she appeared at a We Build the Wall event as vice president of Bienvenido, an organization dedicated to conservative Hispanic outreach, sharpening her profile as a rising conservative voice in Florida.
Anna Paulina Luna Career
Early Career (2018–2020)
Luna decided to run for Congress in 2018 and entered the Republican primary for Florida’s 13th congressional district in September 2019. Matt Gaetz endorsed her in November 2019, and she also drew endorsements from Charlie Kirk, Elise Stefanik, Students for Trump, and former St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster. In July 2020, she and her husband purchased a house in St. Petersburg, near MacDill Air Force Base, where her husband was stationed.
Luna won the 2020 Republican primary but lost the general election to incumbent Democratic congressman Charlie Crist. Despite the defeat, the race established her as a serious political figure in the district and laid the groundwork for a future campaign. She used the experience to build name recognition and donor relationships that would later power her successful 2022 run.
Florida’s 13th District Campaigns (2022–2024)
Luna ran for Congress again in 2022 and won the Republican primary with the endorsement of then-former president Donald Trump. In June 2021, she was granted a temporary stalking injunction against a primary opponent, William Braddock, after a friend recorded Braddock threatening to make Luna disappear and claiming he had access to a hit squad. Braddock dropped out of the race after the injunction. Luna went on to defeat Democratic nominee Eric Lynn, a former senior advisor for Barack Obama, becoming the first Mexican-American woman elected to Congress from Florida.
Marjorie Taylor Greene campaigned for her in Florida. In 2024, Luna was challenged in the general election by Whitney Fox, a moderate Democrat and former communications director for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. Although the seat was viewed as the only Florida House seat within striking distance for Democrats, Luna won re-election with 55 percent of the vote to Fox’s 45 percent.
Congressional Tenure (2023–Present)
On May 23, 2023, Luna co-sponsored resolutions to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI director Christopher Wray, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew M. Graves. On June 21, 2023, she sponsored a resolution censuring Democratic representative Adam Schiff for his past actions as chair of the House Intelligence Committee. The House agreed to the resolution by a vote of 213 to 209. She has maintained a conservative voting record, scoring 98 percent according to Heritage Action.
In February 2025, Luna was appointed by Speaker Mike Johnson to lead a House Oversight Task Force on the declassification of federal secrets, instigated by President Trump’s executive order concerning the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. She co-sponsored a bill in January 2025 proposing to add President Trump’s face to Mount Rushmore. In March 2025, she worked with Democratic representative Brittany Pettersen and others to force a vote on a bill allowing new parents to vote by proxy. The move angered the Freedom Caucus, and Luna later resigned from the group, citing the loss of mutual respect. In 2025, she also led a House Oversight hearing on UAP transparency and whistleblower protection.
Notable Events and Milestones
Luna authored the 2023 Christian children’s book, The Legend of Naranja, and participated in the 2025 documentary film The Age of Disclosure, which examines claimed government programs involving the recovery of unidentified aerial phenomena. She has been a vocal advocate for U.S. troop withdrawals from Syria and Somalia, a ban on U.S. oil exports, and the expulsion of members of the House who have made alleged threats. In October 2025, she met with Kirill Dmitriev, an envoy of Russian president Vladimir Putin, and praised Putin’s comments about President Trump. She also co-sponsored bipartisan legislation with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent and supported a discharge-petition-driven bill to allow new parents to vote by proxy in the House.
Anna Paulina Luna Career Wins
Anna Paulina Luna has compiled an early but notable electoral record in Florida politics, with victories in two Republican primaries and one general election for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Florida’s 13th Congressional District Highlights
Luna first won the Republican primary for Florida’s 13th congressional district in 2020, although she lost the general election to Charlie Crist. She reclaimed the Republican primary in 2022 with the endorsement of President Trump and defeated Democrat Eric Lynn in the general election to claim the seat. She was re-elected in 2024, defeating Democrat Whitney Fox with 55 percent of the vote to Fox’s 45 percent.
Other Wins and Achievements
Luna was awarded the Air Force Achievement Medal for her service as an airfield management specialist in the U.S. Air Force from 2009 to 2014. In 2018, she became the director of Hispanic engagement for Turning Point USA, a role credited with launching her political career. She has authored two books and was named to the cover of Ballistic magazine in early 2020, which called her DC’s Next 2A Warrior.
Anna Paulina Luna Family
Family Background and Heritage
Luna was born to George Mayerhofer and Monica Todd, an elementary school teacher and stay-at-home mother. Her father had Mexican and German ancestry, while her mother has Mexican-American ancestry. Her two maternal great-grandfathers served in the United States Armed Forces during World War II. She changed her surname to Luna in 2019 to honor her maternal grandmother’s maiden name and her Hispanic heritage.
Personal Life
Luna is married to Andrew Gamberzky, a U.S. Air Force combat controller whom she met while serving in the United States Air Force. The couple purchased a home in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 2020. On August 27, 2023, Luna announced that she had given birth to a son. She identifies as a Messianic Jewish Christian and resides in St. Petersburg, Florida, with her family.