The district encompasses the western part of the Florida Panhandle, in the extreme western portion of the state, stretching from Pensacola and the Alabama border east to include Walton, Holmes, and Washington counties.
Most of the territory now in the 1st District had been the 3rd District from 1903 to 1963; however, it has been numbered as the 1st District since then. It cast aside its Democratic roots far sooner than most of the other areas of the state. It has not supported a Democrat for president since John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 1964, RepublicanBarry Goldwater carried the district by such a large margin that it nearly pushed Florida's electoral votes into the Republican column. It has continued to vote for Republicans by very wide margins, with the only exception being 1976, where Gerald Ford won a narrow 50-49 victory over Jimmy Carter. Nonetheless, it usually continued to elect conservative Democrats at the state and local level. Well into the 1980s, the district's congressmen and state lawmakers only faced "sacrificial lamb" Republican challengers on the occasions they faced any opposition at all. As late as 1992, for instance, Bob Graham easily carried the district with 54 percent of the vote--more than double Bill Clinton's total in the district.
This changed with the Republican Revolution of 1994. That year, Joe Scarborough became the first Republican to represent the Panhandle since Reconstruction. This change was more a result of eight-term conservative Democrat Earl Hutto retiring than of a Republican upsurge. It had been taken for granted that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired, particularly when he was nearly defeated in 1990 and 1992. Republicans also swept most of the district's seats in the legislature. Since then, the district has become the most Republican district in Florida, with Republicans dominating every level of government; indeed, in much of the district, there are no elected Democrats above the county level. No Democratic candidate for the seat has tallied more than 40 percent of the vote since Hutto's retirement. John McCain received 67% of the vote in this district in 2008.
The district's conservative bent is not limited to the national level. It also rejects Democrats at the state level as well; Graham is the last Democrat to win the district in a statewide race. By the turn of the millennium, there were almost no elected Democrats left above the county level.
The area comprising the 1st District has maintained a large military presence ever since John Quincy Adams persuaded Spain to sell Florida to the United States in 1819, in part to gain a deepwater port at Pensacola. The U.S. Air Force also has a large presence in Eglin Air Force Base, which is economically important to the district. Slightly under 14,000 people are employed at the base, which is one of the largest air bases in the world and has approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) of airspace stretching over the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys. Hurlburt Field is an auxiliary field at Eglin AFB and is the location of the Air Force Special Operations Command. Eglin AFB spreads over three counties. Pensacola Naval Air Station was the first Navy base devoted to the specific purpose of aviation, and is the home of the Blue Angels. Saufley Field, used for training, is slightly north of Pensacola NAS.
A large number of veterans who retire relocate to this district. Tourism, particularly in Navarre, Pensacola Beach, and Destin, is a major economic activity.
As of January 2018[update], there are three former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st congressional district who are currently living at this time. The most recent representative to die was William C. Cramer (served 1955–1963) on October 18, 2003. The most recently serving representative to die was Bob Sikes (served 1963–1979) on September 28, 1994.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
