Florida's 8th congressional district

"FL 8" redirects here. For the state road, see Florida State Road 8.

Florida's 8th congressional district
Current Representative		Daniel Webster (R–Orlando)
Area	1,158 mi² (2998 km²)
Distribution	91.7% urban, 8.3% rural
Population (2000)	639,295
Median income	$41,568
Ethnicity	69.9% White, 7.2% Black, 3.0% Asian, 17.6% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.3% other
Cook PVI	R+2

Florida's 8th congressional district lies in central Florida. The district takes in parts of Orange County, Lake County, Marion County and Osceola County. Most of Orlando is in the district, including Walt Disney World. Currently, the residents of the Eighth District are represented by Republican Daniel Webster who has held the seat since 2011.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Notes
District created January 3, 1953
Donald R. Matthews	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1967
William C. Cramer	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1971		Redistricted from the 12th district
Bill Young	Republican	January 3, 1971 – January 3, 1973		Redistricted to the 6th district
James A. Haley	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1977		Redistricted from the 7th district
Andy Ireland	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1983		Redistricted to the 10th district
Bill Young	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993		Redistricted from the 6th district, Redistricted to the 10th district
Bill McCollum	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001		Redistricted from the 5th district
Ric Keller	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2009
Alan Grayson	Democratic	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011
Daniel Webster	Republican	January 3, 2011 – Present		Incumbent

Voting

Election results from presidential races
Year	Office	Results
2008	President	Obama 52 - 47%
2004	President	Bush 55 - 44%
2000	President	Bush 53 - 45%

2008 election

Despite a prior pledge to serve only four terms, Congressman Ric Keller was running for his fifth term in the House of Representatives. He narrowly defeated Orlando attorney Todd Long in the Republican primary election held on August 26, 2008. His Democratic opponent was attorney and millionaire businessman Alan Grayson, who emerged as the surprise victor of the Democratic primary field which included moderate Democrat and long-time Central Florida political operative Charlie Stuart, attorney Mike Smith, engineer Alexander Fry, and recent law school graduate Quoc Van.

Grayson defeated Keller in the November election receiving 52% of the vote, the same share as Barack Obama on the top of the ballot. Democratic activists in the district had mounted an aggressive campaign to register traditionally Democratic union workers and an increasing Hispanic (primarily Puerto Rican) demographic in the district.

RESULTS

Alan Grayson (Dem) 172,854 (52%)

Ric Keller (Rep) 159,490 (48%)

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/resultsarchive/Index.asp?ElectionDate=11/4/2008&DATAMODE=

2006 election

In the 2006 election, Ric Keller was elected to his fourth two-year term, defeating Democrat Charlie Stuart, Independent Wes Hoaglund, and three write-in candidates.

2006 US House Election

• Republican (Keller) 95,258 (52.8%)
• Democrat (Stuart) 82,526 (45.7%)
• Independent (Hoaglund) 2,640 (1.5%)

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present