The Washington Post corrected a story on Friday after claiming Republican Florida Rep. Anna Paulina Luna was a registered Democrat in 2017.
Rep. Luna was profiled by the Washington Post in a detailed story about her upbringing and political transformation. The Post claimed she was “registered to vote as a Democrat in Washington State, voting records show,” three years before Luna first ran for Congress as a Republican in 2020. (RELATED: The Washington Post Deletes Tweet After Suggesting FBI Raid Was Politically Motivated)
We incorrectly stated that Anna Paulina Luna was reg’d as a Dem in Washington state in 2017 based on an erroneous voter reg database. Wash only requires voters declare party affiliation when they cast a ballot in a POTUS primary. So sorry for the error! https://t.co/YBzo8wawZU
— Jacqueline Alemany (@JaxAlemany) February 10, 2023
“A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Anna Paulina Luna was registered as a Democrat in Washington state in 2017 based on an erroneous voter registration database. Washington state only requires voters to declare their party affiliation when they cast a ballot in a presidential primary,” the Post wrote in a correction at the top of its story.
Documents provided to the Daily Caller show Luna registered to vote as a Republican in Pinellas County, Florida, in 2015. Washington State does not register voters based on party affiliation or political party, according to a government website.
Holy shit the Washington post just tried to claim my dad was never incarcerated, left out comments from my mom, said I was a registered Democrat, and did not report a convo they had with a former roommate, and interviewed “family” I don’t talk to. This is comical.
— Anna Paulina Luna (@VoteAPL) February 10, 2023
Luna raised additional objections to the Washington Post’s reporting in a tweet posted Friday. “[T]he Washington post just tried to claim my dad was never incarcerated, left out comments from my mom, said I was a registered Democrat, and did not report a convo they had with a former roommate, and interviewed ‘family’ I don’t talk to. This is comical,” she said.
The Washington Post claimed it could not find public records of Luna’s father, George Mayerhofer, spending time in prison for drug charges, as Luna’s mother Monica had reportedly told them.
Mayerhofer was incarcerated for drug charges in Orange County, California, according to records accessible on the Orange County, California, court website. Luna provided the Daily Caller with an image of her father in a jumpsuit shortly after he was released. “I’m no investigative journalist, but it was very easy for me to find my dad’s incarceration records,” Luna said.
The report also claims Luna was in possession of a firearm when her apartment was broken into during her time in the Air Force, based on a statement from former roommate Brittany Brooks. Former Air Force roommate Lamar Carson made on-the-record statements to the Washington Post refuting Brooks’ allegation, which were not published in the report, according to the documents provided by Luna.
“I never seen her with a firearm while at Whiteman,” Carson told WaPo, according to texts obtained by the Daily Caller. Another former roommate, Martina Kellum, said, “Brooks was known by most people to fabricate stories regularly” in a statement on Instagram. She said the Washington Post’s sources were “not credible” and the story attempts to smear Luna’s reputation.
A spokesperson for the Washington Post acknowledged the correction and stood by the rest of the story. “This deeply reported story about Rep. Luna’s biography includes ample perspectives from people who have known her throughout her life,” the spokesperson said.
WaPo did not immediately respond to additional questions.
Henry Rodgers contributed to this report.