Opponent of Rep. Anna Paulina Luna charged with threatening her in 2022 primary

***Candidate claimed in a recorded call with an activist that he would send a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad to kill her.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — A former Republican candidate for Congress in Florida has been charged with threatening to send a hit squad to kill an opponent in the race, federal authorities said Friday.

William Braddock claimed in a recorded call with a local activist that he would send a Russian and Ukrainian hit squad to kill Anna Paulina Luna during the 2022 primary for a seat in the Clearwater area, the Department of Justice said. Luna went on to win the seat in the general election.

Braddock, 41, was extradited from the Philippines, where he moved after the primary, on a charge of interstate transmission of a true threat to injure another person. He made an initial appearance Thursday in federal court in Los Angeles.

The charges stem from the contentious Republican primary that was heating up after then Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.) announced he was not going to run for reelection for his Pinellas County congressional seat.

POLITICO previously reported that a conservative activist recorded Braddock telling her to not support Luna — who had lost to Crist to 2020 — because he had access to assassins.

“I really don’t want to have to end anybody’s life for the good of the people of the United States of America,” he said, according to the recording obtained at the time by POLITICO. “That will break my heart. But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done. Luna is a fucking speed bump in the road. She’s a dead squirrel you run over every day when you leave the neighborhood.”

At the time, Braddock denied to POLITICO via text to discuss the call and said he had not heard the recording. He also suggested the recording “may even be altered and edited.”

A judge later approved a temporary restraining order against him but did not grant a permanent injunction and local authorities declined to pursue charges. Pinellas-Pasco Executive Assistant State Attorney Kendall Davidson told the Tampa Bay Times back in 2021 that probable cause didn’t exist to file charges in the case because Braddock didn’t make the threat directly to Luna or her family and doesn’t have the reasonable ability to carry out the threat.

The Justice Department said that the FBI investigated the case along with the St. Petersburg Police Department as part of the department’s election threats task force. Florida Politics reported a year ago that Braddock had been arrested by authorities in Philippines in conjunction with the FBI. He faces up to five years in prison.

Luna, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, would go on to win the GOP primary in 2022 and win the congressional seat outright. She is running for reelection in the district, which includes a part of the state that experienced the effects of Hurricane Helene. Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.