Dear readers,
Here’s the story that triggered today’s missive. Soldiers and families press Army leaders after deadly Iranian drone strike | AP News https://apnews.com/article/iran-war-port-shuaiba-attack-soldiers-29f34587c6361261f6e803aff6791e8f .
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In the 13th Florida Congressional District, Retired Army Brigadier General Leela Gray is challenging Republican incumbent Anna Paulina Luna. IMO, Luna is hiding from Gray and won’t debate. IMO, Luna fails policy tests.
Gray is an outstanding quality candidate, IMO. If elected to Congress, Gray would be the first female army general to be seated in the House of Representatives.
Disclosure: I have contributed to General Leela Gray’s campaign notwithstanding my Republican career history and “R” voter registration and even though I do not live in FL 13. Second disclosure: my army service was from 1966 to 1969, final rank Captain. Third disclosure: after graduating Wharton in 1965, I became a second lieutenant in 1966; that was the same year a young Donald J. Trump transferred into Wharton from Fordham. Fourth disclosure: I, too, have heel spurs. Fifth disclosure: I wear orthotics.
Leela Gray was in that Kuwait building during her army service. I have spoken with her personally about it. IMO, Gray will be an excellent member of the House Armed Services Committee and/or any committee focused on war, defense, veterans’ affairs, etc. She gets it and can bring her experience into the House of Representatives.
IMO, Anna Paulina Luna is a political pawn and must be removed from Congress by being defeated in her midterm election attempt to be re-elected. You can check out Luna for yourself. I have. I reject her policies (A House bill to legislate putting Trump’s likeness on Mt. Rushmore) and her political grandstanding methods including the Russian oligarchs she hosted. See: Luna hosts Russian lawmakers to mixed GOP reactions, outrage from others https://thehill.com/policy/international/5803437-luna-russian-delegation-meeting/
Here’s some information (with citations) about General Leela Gray.
Army Brigadier General and Florida congressional candidate Leela Gray was previously in that same building. [1, 2]
During her campaign, Leela Gray stated that she had been inside the exact operations center building at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, roughly a year before she retired from the military in 2018. [3, 4, 1]
She has used her personal experience in that specific structure to criticize the lack of military preparation leading up to the March 2026 strike. In a September 2026 interview detailing her congressional platform, Gray stated:
“Where those soldiers lost their lives at Port Shuaiba in Kuwait—I had been in that same building a few years or a year before I had retired. And the fact that it was not a hardened site before we went into a war with Iran tells me everything I need to know about the poor planning.” [1, 5]
USCG PHOTO (PA1 Matthew Belson): OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM, ASH SHUAIBA, Kuwait (March 26, 2004)-Port Security. Specialist 3rd Class Rafael Ortiz, 30, from Sarasota, Fla., keeps watch in a guard tower. Ortiz is a member of Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307.
Now to the final Kotok Report item for today.
I want to document Congresswoman Luna’s practice of disgusting deception and disingenuity. As you read this, note that General Leela Gray’s political ads criticizing Congresswoman Luna cite specific House bills and provide sources to support their claims. IMO, Luna cites nothing, makes up personal claims about her history, and, as you will see, makes stuff up to suit herself.
First, the facts.
Brigadier General Leela Gray was a full colonel and placed in a new command structure. She told me how this assignment included reporting and a final review by a three-star general. She was successful in what was a difficult assignment and after favorable reviews by her superior officer, she was eventually promoted to Brigadier General. That process of nomination by the president and then extensive vetting takes time. Between nomination and US Senate confirmation, there are many steps and usual delays. Leela Gray was fully reviewed and then her nomination was sent to the full Senate (June 18, 2015) from the Senate Committee on Armed Services chaired by the late Senator John McCain. In 2015, Leela Gray was confirmed by the US Senate (Congressional record for nomination, PN528). The rest of Leela Gray’s military career was exemplary and ended prior to her retirement after 30 years’ service in the position of Deputy Commander of Central Command.
In the practice of deception, Cong. Luna was discussed in a specialized “hit piece” which first disparaged General Gray. It is an electronic newsletter published by a single individual who also has similar publications in Texas and elsewhere. It offers no information I can find about numbers of subscribers. It ran a story that disparaged General Gray and it sourced “anonymous” sources. It did not offer any citations of the type you see at the bottom of this Kotok Report. That hit piece was then cited by another hit piece of similar ilk. Then Cong. Luna ran an attack ad disparaging General Gray by lifting a quote from the second hit piece which had lifted the quote from the first hit piece which had published an anonymously sourced incomplete story which never mentions that Leela Gray had been reviewed by and voted out of John McCain’s committee and that McCain was the chairman who sent her nomination to the floor of the US Senate when she was confirmed and officially became a Brigadier General. If you knew nothing and were watching Tampa TV, you would have no way to know the truth. And you would have no way to know how distortion and deception were applied by Cong. Luna’s campaign or by alternative PACs that were supporting Luna because of their private agendas.
Here’s the rest of the story about Luna, with a citation.
On February 10, 2023, the Washington Post published an extensive exposé on “The Making of Anna Paulina Luna.” In that story, there is a revealing quote from the person who was Luna’s roommate. That source is named in the story and describes in detail how Luna changes her narrative to suit her situation. I am paraphrasing from a long quote. Here’s the link: The making of Anna Paulina Luna https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/10/anna-paulina-luna-republican-biography/ .
Readers are invited to read the full Washington Post story about Luna, who was part of a congressional class that contained some other folks who liked to make up their history and biography. One of her congressional classmates was Rep. George Santos.
Kotok conclusion. I have contributed to the campaign of Leela Gray. As a vet and a citizen, I want General Leela Gray on the congressional committee that has oversight responsibilities. The least desirable person there, IMO, is Anna Paulina Luna.
Inside Elections moved Florida’s 13th Congressional District from Likely Republican to Lean Republican this week. It was the only Florida House seat the nonpartisan rater touched in its Oct. 1 update, and the fourth outlet in nine days to move the race toward Democrat Leela Gray.
https://insideelections.com/ratings/house/ .
Deep-red districts are now House battlegrounds. These are the races to watch. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/10/19/guide-house-battleground-races-this-november/
Reading & Link List
“Elon Musk’s America PAC Is Quietly Funding November’s Most Consequential Elections”
WIRED
https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musks-america-pac-is-quietly-funding-novembers-most-consequential-elections/
Kotok Note: General Leela Gray isn’t the only victim of a disingenuous deceptive political attack funded by miscreant money. Here’s a horror story about another one. Hat tip to the Bradenton Journal.
“Follow the Money Behind the Latest Attack on Congressional Candidate Kelly Kirschner”
Marc R. Masferrer | The Bradenton Journal | October 15, 2026
The Bradenton JournalFollow the money behind the latest attack on congressional candidate Kelly Kirschner
Welcome to The Bradenton Journal…
10 days ago · 13 likes · 4 comments · Marc R. Masferrer
“The Florida Seat That Could Flip Congress”
YouTube
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PrWPa81gbek?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
Here’s an item that Luna doesn’t talk about. Please think about it as you ponder if you really want to see Luna seated again in the next Congress.
“4(a). On Sept. 25, Representative Luna (R–FL) voted against the stopgap spending bill that recently replenished the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) disaster relief fund. The next day, Hurricane Helene inflicted its worst damage on Luna’s Clearwater–St. Petersburg district. Luna did a blame-game about-face. On Oct. 3, Luna claimed that FEMA is underfunded because it gave money to immigrants (“Illegals got $1.01B from FEMA that was supposed to/ SHOULD GO to flood victims!”
Anna Paulina Luna@realannapaulina
Illegals got $1.01B from FEMA that was supposed to/ SHOULD GO to flood victims!
4:44 PM · Oct 3, 2024 · 1.17M Views
3.89K Replies · 24.5K Reposts · 68.6K Likes
). That assertion has been thoroughly debunked. The following day, Luna joined a political rally on stage with presidential hopeful Donald Trump in North Carolina and repeated her lie. Lies have consequences, including lies about where FEMA money goes and lies about $750 being all the assistance people get. On October 14, federal assistance in Rutherford County, NC, was halted because of violent threats against FEMA. There was an arrest.”
“Milton”
David R. Kotok | Kotok Report | October 20, 2024https://kotokreport.com/milton/
Candidates’ Veterans Policy Statements
Kotok note: We could only find a comprehensive veterans agenda published by Gen. Gray. We include two sources for Cong. Luna that covers the subject in some detail.
“Keeping Our Promise”: Veterans and Military Families Policy Agenda
Leela Gray for Congress | October 20, 2026
Campaign policy document
“Veterans”
Office of Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna | Official congressional websitehttps://luna.house.gov/veterans/
“Working for You”
Anna Paulina Luna for Congress | Official campaign websitehttps://www.voteannapaulina.com/copy-of-meet-anna
Citation List
[1]
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/Y7PtU0XBtes?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0
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