Florida's 13th congressional district
| Florida's 13th congressional district | |
|---|---|
 Florida's 13th congressional district - since January 3, 2017 | |
| Representative | |
| Area | 429[1] sq mi (1,110 km2) |
| Distribution |
|
| Population (2016) | 728,996[3] |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Cook PVI | D+2[4] |
Florida's 13th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress and was reassigned in 2012, effective January 2013, to Pinellas County.[5][6] The 13th district includes an area from Clearwater down to St. Petersburg.
During 2003–2012, it encompassed all of Sarasota, DeSoto, and Hardee counties and most of Manatee County except for a small northern coastal portion that was then located in the neighboring 11th Congressional District. It also included a small section of Charlotte County.
The district is currently represented by Democrat Charlie Crist.
2015 Court ordered redistricting
In July 2015 the Florida Supreme Court overturned the boundaries of the state's congressional districts, ruling that "the maps were the product of an unconstitutional political gerrymandering." It expressed its distrust of lawmakers and "provided detailed instructions on how to repair the flawed map in time for the 2016 election."[7]
"In 2012, the Legislature drew these districts so that District 14 crossed Tampa Bay from Hillsborough County, splitting Pinellas County and the City of St. Petersburg to include a portion of the black population in southern Pinellas County in District 14. The Challengers contended that the Legislature’s configuration of these districts—which "added more Democratic voters to an already safely Democratic District 14, while ensuring that District 13 was more favorable to the Republican Party"—was "directly connected to the trial court’s finding that the enacted map was unconstitutionally drawn to favor the Republican Party. " [8]
With the future of the boundaries of the district undetermined, the Republican Party may abandon it. This was where (under slightly different boundaries) William C. Cramer was elected to Congress, and he helped build the Republican Party in Florida and the South. He held office from 1954 to 1970. Republican C.W. Bill Young essentially represented the district from 1971 to his death in 2013. But demographics have continued to change, and more recently it has been a swing district. Several Democrats may be interested in running for the seat.
There is speculation that the state legislature may try to define the district as either "decidedly Democratic-leaning or overwhelmingly Democratic" if it takes in southern Pinellas County neighborhoods now represented by Tampa Democrat Kathy Castor in Florida's 14th congressional district.[9]
List of representatives
| Representative | Party | Years | Electoral history | Congressional map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created January 3, 1973 | ||||
 William Lehman
|
Democratic | January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983 |
Redistricted to the 17th district. | [data missing] |
 Connie Mack III
|
Republican | January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1989 |
Retired to run for U.S. Senate. | [data missing] |
 Porter Goss
|
Republican | January 3, 1989 – January 3, 1993 |
Redistricted to the 14th district. | |
 Dan Miller
|
Republican | January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2003 |
Retired. | [data missing] |
.jpg) Katherine Harris
|
Republican | January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2007 |
Retired to run for U.S. Senate. | 
|
 Vern Buchanan
|
Republican | January 3, 2007 – January 3, 2013 |
Redistricted to the 16th district. | |
 Bill Young
|
Republican | January 3, 2013 – October 18, 2013 |
Redistricted from the 10th district. Died. |
|
| Vacant | October 18, 2013 – March 11, 2014 |
|||
 David Jolly
|
Republican | March 11, 2014 – January 3, 2017 |
First elected to finish Young's term. Re-elected in November 2014. Lost re-election. | |
 Charlie Crist
|
Democratic | January 3, 2017 – Present |
Incumbent | |
Recent election results from presidential races
| Year | Results |
|---|---|
| 2000 | George W. Bush 55% - Al Gore 46%[10] |
| 2004 | George W. Bush 56% - John Kerry 44%[10] |
| 2008 | John McCain 52% - Barack Obama 47%[10] |
| 2012 | Barack Obama 50% - Mitt Romney 49% |
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton 50% - Donald Trump 46% |
Election results
2002
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katherine Harris | 139,048 | 54.79 | |
| Democratic | Jan Schneider | 114,739 | 45.21 | |
| Total votes | 253,787 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
2004
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Katherine Harris (Incumbent) | 190,477 | 55.30 | |
| Democratic | Jan Schneider | 153,961 | 44.70 | |
| Total votes | 344,438 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
2006
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Vern Buchanan | 119,309 | 50.08 | |
| Democratic | Christine Jennings | 118,940 | 49.92 | |
| Total votes | 238,249 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
Election officials certified Buchanan as the winner of the race over Jennings by 369 votes. Buchanan was declared the winner after a mandatory recount and analysis of alleged voting machine errors in the race. The primary controversy in this race was that over 18,000 ballots (or roughly one in six) cast in Sarasota County apparently did not register a vote for this race, far higher than in the two previous elections involving Jan Schneider, but lower than the undervote in 2000. Sarasota County voted for Jennings by a six-point margin. Jennings refused to concede the race and pursued administrative and legal challenges to the result, including an appeal for an investigation of the election with the House Administration Committee.[11] Preliminary results from an investigation by Congress's Government Accountability Office concluded that there was no evidence that the voting machines caused the high undervote, but that inadequate testing made it impossible to prove their complete reliability.[12] Sarasota County has since moved to optical scanned paper ballots as a result of a 2006 referendum vote.
According to a statistical study published in 2008,[13] the missing votes were caused by the ballot screen layout. The authors' best estimate on what the result would have been, had this problem not occurred, gave victory to Jennings at a 99.9% confidence level, and a mean margin of victory for her of 639 votes.
2008
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Vern Buchanan (Incumbent) | 204,382 | 55.43 | |
| Democratic | Christine Jennings | 137,967 | 37.42 | |
| Independent | Jan Schneider | 20,989 | 5.69 | |
| Independent | Don Baldauf | 5,358 | 1.45 | |
| Total votes | 368,696 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
2010
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Vern Buchanan (Incumbent) | 183,811 | 68.86 | |
| Democratic | James T. Golden | 83,123 | 31.14 | |
| Total votes | 266,934 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
2012
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bill Young (Redistricted incumbent) | 189,609 | 57.57 | |
| Democratic | Jessica Ehrlich | 139,742 | 42.43 | |
| Total votes | 329,347 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
2014 (special)
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Jolly | 89,095 | 48.52 | |
| Democratic | Alex Sink | 85,639 | 46.64 | |
| Libertarian | Lucas Overby | 8,893 | 4.84 | |
| Total votes | 183,927 | 100 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Republican hold | ||||
The district's seat was vacated following the death of Republican Bill Young.[16] A special election was held on March 11, 2014 to replace him. The election was won by Republican David Jolly with 48.52% of the vote over the one time Gubernatorial candidate Democrat Alex Sink's 46.64% and Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby's 4.84%.
2014
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Jolly | 168,172 | 75.22 | |
| Libertarian | Lucas Overby | 55,318 | 24.74 | |
| Write-in | Michael Stephen Levinson | 86 | .04 | |
| Total votes | 223,576 | 100.00 | ||
| Republican hold | ||||
2016
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Charlie Crist | 184,693 | 51.90 | |||
| Republican | David Jolly (Incumbent) | 171,149 | 48.10 | |||
| Total votes | 355,842 | 100.00 | ||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
Living former representatives
As of January 2017[update], there are six living former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 13th congressional district. The most recent representative to die was the incumbent Bill Young, who died in office on October 18, 2013.
| Representative | Term of office | Date of birth (and age) |
|---|---|---|
| Connie Mack III | 1983–1989 | October 29, 1940 |
| Porter Goss | 1989–1993 | November 26, 1938 |
| Dan Miller | 1993–2003 | May 30, 1942 |
| Katherine Harris | 2003–2007 | April 5, 1957 |
| Vern Buchanan | 2007–2013 | May 8, 1951 |
| David Jolly | 2014–2017 | October 31, 1972 |
References
- ^ "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)" (PDF). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
- ^ https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html
- ^ https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=12&cd=13
- ^ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- ^ See whole Florida state map for 2013, with the 13th district covering Sumter County, Hernando to Marion County: h9047_35x42L.pdf Congressional Plan: H000C9047. Chapter No. 2012-2, Laws of Florida. www.flsenate.gov. February 16, 2012.
- ^ See 2013 borders of 13th district in the 2013 districts map: H000C9047_map_bb.pdf, for the Big Bend region of Florida. Congressional Plan: H000C9047. Chapter No. 2012-2, Laws of Florida. www.flsenate.gov. February 2012.
- ^ Mary Ellen Klass, "Florida Supreme Court orders new congressional map with eight districts to be redrawn", Tampa Bay Times, July 9, 2015, February 11, 2016
- ^ "Supreme Court of Florida: The League of Women Voters of Florida vs. Ken Detzner" (PDF).
- ^ Adam C. Smith, "Republicans may walk away from the congressional district where Florida GOP was born", Tampa Bay Times,July 16, 2015, accessed February 11, 2016
- ^ a b c http://www.swingstateproject.com/diary/4161/
- ^ The CQPolitics Interview: Christine Jennings (December 6, 2006)
- ^ GAO Report (October 2, 2007)
- ^ Arlene Ash and John Lamperti (Spring 2008). "Florida 2006: Can Statistics Tell Us Who Won Congressional District-13?" (pdf). Chance. 21 (2). Springer: 18–24. doi:10.1007/s00144-008-0015-5. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
- ^ http://enr.votepinellas.com/FL/Pinellas/43334/112818/en/summary.html
- ^ http://www.politico.com/2013-election/results/house/florida/
- ^ Juliet Eilperin (October 18, 2013). "C. W. "Bill" Young, longest-serving Republican in the House, dies at 82". The Washington Post.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "November 4, 2014 General Election Official Results". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
- ^ http://enr.votepinellas.com/FL/Pinellas/64408/183835/en/summary.html
- 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) - Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
External links
- Voting inquiry finds reasons to dig deeper (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, August 4, 2007)
- Congressional task force to begin investigating contested Florida 13 election. (The Bradenton Herald, March 31, 2007)
- Congressional Republicans act to block Congressional Task Force slated to begin investigation into Florida 13. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 28, 2007)
- Memo on voting machines "misfiled" by Kathy Dent's office. (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 17, 2007)
- People for the American Way Statement on Newly Revealed ES&S Memo on Possible Machine Malfunction. (People for the American Way, March 15, 2007)
- August 2006 Memo from Elections Systems and Software warning Florida Supervisors of Elections of a response time issue on their iVotronics touchscreen voting systems.
- Sarasota: Could a Bug Have Lost Votes? (Professor Ed Felten, February 27, 2006)
- Software Review and Security Analysis of the ES&S iVotronic 8.0.1.2 Voting Machine Firmware, Final Report. (Florida Department of State, February 2007)
- Affidavit by Clare Ward-Jenkins, poll worker in Precinct 14, Sarasota County. Ms. Ward-Jenkins' affidavit details her encounters with a bug that repeatedly cleared votes cast for Democratic Congressional candidate, Christine Jennings., January 19, 2007
- Analysis: Undervoted ballots heavily favored Democrats. (Orlando Sentinel, November 22, 2006)
- Buchanan declared winner; rival Jennings sues (Sarasota Herald-Tribune, November 21, 2006)
- Christine Jennings' "Complaint to Contest Election" (Filed in Florida Court, November 20, 2006)
- Sarasota County Electronic Ballot Screenshots (Posted on The BradBlog, November 20, 2006)
- Christine Jennings' web site.
- Vern Buchanan's Congressional web site.