Florida's at-large congressional district

Florida's at-large congressional district may refer to a few different occasions when a statewide at-large district was used for elections to the United States House of Representatives from Florida. The district is obsolete.

Prior to Florida's admittance as a state of the Union in 1845, congressional delegates for Florida Territory were elected from Florida Territory's at-large congressional district. The first elected U.S. representative from the state was installed October 6, 1845.

A single representative was elected from the state from after statehood to 1873, when a second representative was elected for 1 term beginning in 1873. District representation began in 1875.

Subsequently, on occasion an at-large representative would be elected in addition to representatives being elected from districts. This would occur 1913-1915, 1933–1937, and 1943-1945.

The district became obsolete January 3, 1945.

List of representatives

After the 1870 census, a second seat was apportioned to Florida. Briefly, for the 43rd Congress, a second at-large seat was used. After that, there were two geographic districts created.

Years	Congresses	Seat A			Seat B
		Representative	Party	Electoral history	Representative	Party	Electoral history
October 6, 1845 – January 24, 1846	29th	Edward C. Cabell	Whig	Lost contested the election
January 24, 1846 – March 3, 1847		William H. Brockenbrough	Democratic	Successfully contested election
March 4, 1847 – March 3, 1853	30th 31st 32nd	Edward C. Cabell	Whig	Lost re-election
March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857	33rd 34th	Augustus Maxwell	Democratic	Retired
March 4, 1857 – January 21, 1861	35th 36th	George S. Hawkins	Democratic	Withdrew ahead of secession
January 21, 1861 – July 1, 1868	36th 37th 38th 39th 40th	No representation because of U.S. Civil War
July 1, 1868 – March 3, 1871	40th 41st	Charles M. Hamilton	Republican	Lost renomination
March 4, 1871 – January 29, 1873	42nd	Josiah T. Walls	Republican	Lost contested election
January 29, 1873 – March 3, 1873		Silas L. Niblack	Democratic	Successfully contested election Lost re-election
March 4, 1873 – January 25, 1875	43rd	William J. Purman	Republican	Resigned	Josiah T. Walls	Republican	Redistricted to the 2nd district
January 25, 1875 – March 3, 1875		Vacant
March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1915	44th 45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd	Seat inactive
March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	Claude L'Engle	Democratic	Lost renomination
March 3, 1915 – March 3, 1933	64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd	Seat inactive
March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	73rd 74th	William J. Sears	Democratic	Lost renomination
January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943	75th 76th 77th	Seat inactive
January 3, 1943 – November 25, 1944	78th	Robert A. Green	Democratic	Redistricted from the 2nd district Resigned to enter US Navy
November 26, 1944 – January 3, 1945		Vacant
January 3, 1945		Seat eliminated

References

• 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