Florida's 5th congressional district

Florida's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It extends along Florida's northern boundary from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. The district includes all of Baker, Gadsden, Hamilton and Madison counties and portions of Columbia, Duval, Jefferson, and Leon counties. It is a minority-majority district.

Florida's 5th congressional district
Florida's 5th congressional district - since January 3, 2017
Representative
  Al Lawson
DTallahassee
Area3,911[1] sq mi (10,130 km2)
Distribution
  • 83.37% urban[2]
  • 16.63% rural
Population (2019)742,643[3]
Median household
income
$43,667[4]
Ethnicity
Cook PVID+12[5]

As defined by the state legislature in 2013 (which lasted until 2017), the 5th district ran from Jacksonville to Orlando; it was considered one of the most-gerrymandered congressional districts in the country.[6] Before 2013, similar territory was included the 3rd district.

From 2002 to 2013 the district comprised all of Citrus, Hernando, and Sumter counties and most of Lake, Levy, and Pasco counties and portions of Marion and Polk counties. The district included northern exurbs of Tampa and western exurbs of Orlando within the high-growth Interstate 4 Corridor. This iteration of the 5th district is now largely contained in the 11th district.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Al Lawson.

Historical district boundaries

Prior district number 5

Florida's 3rd Congressional District was renumbered to 5th Congressional District but was little changed in the redistricting process in 2012, still winding from Orlando in the south to central Jacksonville in the north.[7]

From 1973 to 1993 the erstwhile 3rd district was based in Orange County, including Walt Disney World and most of Orlando. The peculiar shape of the 3rd (now 5th) Congressional District dates from reapportionment done by the Florida Legislature after the 1990 U.S. Census. The 1993–2012 3rd Congressional District was geographically distinctive. Starting from the southern part of the district, it included the Pine Hills area of the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Area with small pockets of African-American neighborhoods in the cities of Sanford, Gainesville, Palatka, and finally the larger African American communities of Jacksonville.[8] Connecting these areas were regions which are sparsely populated—either expansive rural areas or narrow strips which are only a few miles wide.[9][10] Barack Obama received 73% of the vote in this district in the 2008 Presidential election.

Court-ordered changes

On July 11, 2014, Florida Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that this district, along with the neighboring District 10, had been drawn to favor the Republican party by packing black Democratic voters into District 5.[8][11] On August 1, Judge Lewis gave Florida's state legislature an Aug. 15 deadline to submit new congressional maps for those two districts.[12]

5th District Representative Corrine Brown issued a statement blasting Lewis's decision on the district map as "seriously flawed,"[10] and Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge sent a sharply worded letter to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel complaining about the party’s support for the lawsuit challenging Florida's district maps.[13]

Brown said that "we will go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with making sure that African Americans are not disenfranchised."[14] Florida House Redistricting Chairman Richard Corcoran, a Republican, said that "consideration of political data is legally required" to ensure that district boundaries would not be so shifted as to not allow African-Americans a chance to elect representatives of their choice.[15]

On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court approved a redrawn version of District 5 on December 2, 2015. That plan went into effect for the 2016 elections.[16] The new district had a dramatically different shape than its predecessor. It now stretched in an east-west configuration along the Georgia border from downtown Jacksonville to Tallahassee. However, it was no less Democratic than its predecessor, as noted in the Florida Supreme Court's final opinion:

"With a black share of registered Democrats of 66.1%, the black candidate of choice is likely to win a contested Democratic primary, and with a Democratic registration advantage of 61.1% to 23.0% over Republicans, the Democratic candidate is likely to win the general election."

Voting

Election results from presidential races
Year Office Results
1992 President Clinton 42–34%
1996 President Clinton 50–37%
2000 President Gore 50–46%
2004 President Bush 58–41%
2008 President McCain 56–43%
2012 President Obama 63-35%
2016 President Clinton 61–35%
2020 President Biden 63–36%

List of members representing the district

The district was created January 3, 1937.

Member Party Years Cong
ress
Electoral history District location

Joe Hendricks
Democratic January 3, 1937 –
January 3, 1949
75th
76th
77th
78th
79th
80th
Elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Re-elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Retired.
1937–1943
[data unknown/missing]
1943–1953
[data unknown/missing]

Syd Herlong
Democratic January 3, 1949 –
January 3, 1967
81st
82nd
83rd
84th
85th
86th
87th
88th
89th
Elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Re-elected in 1952.
Re-elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Re-elected in 1962.
Re-elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Redistricted to the 4th district.
1953–1963
[data unknown/missing]
1963–1973
[data unknown/missing]

Edward Gurney
Republican January 3, 1967 –
January 3, 1969
90th Redistricted from the 11th district and re-elected in 1966.
Retired.

Louis Frey Jr.
Republican January 3, 1969 –
January 3, 1973
91st
92nd
Elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Redistricted to the 9th district.

Bill Gunter
Democratic January 3, 1973 –
January 3, 1975
93rd Elected in 1972.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
1973–1983
[data unknown/missing]

Richard Kelly
Republican January 3, 1975 –
January 3, 1981
94th
95th
96th
Elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Lost renomination after involvement in the Abscam scandal.

Bill McCollum
Republican January 3, 1981 –
January 3, 1993
97th
98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd
Elected in 1980.
Re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 196.
Re-elected in 1988.
Re-elected in 1990.
Redistricted to the 8th district.
1983–1993
[data unknown/missing]

Karen Thurman
Democratic January 3, 1993 –
January 3, 2003
103rd
104th
105th
106th
107th
Elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Re-elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Lost re-election.
1993–2003
[data unknown/missing]

Ginny Brown-Waite
Republican January 3, 2003 –
January 3, 2011
108th
109th
110th
111th
Elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Retired due to health problems.
2003–2013

Rich Nugent
Republican January 3, 2011 –
January 3, 2013
112th Elected in 2010.
Redistricted to the 11th district.

Corrine Brown
Democratic January 3, 2013 –
January 3, 2017
113th
114th
Redistricted from the 3rd district and re-elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Lost renomination after criminal indictment.
2013–2017

Al Lawson
Democratic January 3, 2017 –
present
115th
116th
117th
Elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
2017–present

Election results

2002

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2002)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ginny Brown-Waite 121,998 47.90%
Democratic Karen L. Thurman (Incumbent) 117,758 46.24%
Independent Jack Gargan 8,639 3.39%
Independent Brian P. Moore 6,223 2.44%
No party Others 53 0.02%
Total votes 254,671 100.00%
Turnout  
Republican gain from Democratic

2004

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2004)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ginny Brown-Waite (Incumbent) 240,315 65.93%
Democratic Robert G. Whittel 124,140 34.06%
No party Others 33 0.01%
Total votes 364,488 100.00%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2006

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2006)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ginny Brown-Waite (Incumbent) 162,421 59.85%
Democratic John T. Russell 108,959 40.15%
Total votes 271,380 100.00%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2008

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2008)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Ginny Brown-Waite (Incumbent) 265,186 61.15%
Democratic John T. Russell 168,446 38.85%
Total votes 433,632 100.00%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2010

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2010)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Rich Nugent 208,815 67.43%
Democratic Jim Piccillo 100,858 32.57%
Total votes 309,673
Turnout   100.0%
Republican hold

2012

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2012)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Corrine Brown 190,472 70.80%
Republican LeAnne Kolb 70,700 26.30%
No Party Affiliation Eileen Fleming 7,978 3.00%
Total votes 269,153
Turnout   100.0%
Democratic gain from Republican

2014

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2014)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Corrine Brown (Incumbent) 112,340 65.47%
Republican Glo Smith 59,237 34.53%
Total votes 171,577
Turnout   100.0%
Democratic hold

2016

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2016)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Al Lawson 194,549 64.2%
Republican Glo Smith 108,325 35.8%
Total votes 302,874
Turnout   100.0%
Democratic hold

2018

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2018)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Al Lawson (Incumbent) 180,527 66.78%
Republican Virginia Fuller 89,799 33.22%
Total votes 270,326 100.0%
Democratic hold

2020

Florida's 5th Congressional District Election (2020)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Al Lawson (Incumbent) 219,463 65.13%
Republican Gary Adler 117,510 34.87%
Total votes 336,973 100.0%
Democratic hold

References

  1. "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)" (PDF). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  2. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html
  3. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=12&cd=05
  4. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=12&cd=05
  5. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  6. Ingraham, Christopher (May 15, 2014). "America's most gerrymandered congressional districts". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved May 21, 2014.
  7. "Florida's 5th Congressional District". WJXT - Jacksonville. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  8. James, Frank (11 July 2014). "Florida Ruling Is A Primer On Redistricting Chicanery". NPR.org. National Public Radio. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  9. Leary, Alex (14 May 2011). "Democrat U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown again aligns with GOP in Florida redistricting battle". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  10. Leary, Alex (10 July 2012). "Corrine Brown calls redistricting decision 'seriously flawed'". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  11. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/house-races/211930-judge-strikes-down-florida-congressional-lines
  12. Cotterell, Bill (5 August 2014). "Florida elections face uncertainty as congressional maps redrawn". Thomson Reuters. Reuters. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  13. Isenstadt, Alex (4 August 2014). "CBC, DCCC clash over Fla. redistricting suit". POLITICO.com. POLITICO LLC. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  14. Livingston, Abby (11 July 2012). "Florida Redistricting Ruling Gets Mixed Reactions From Democrats". Rollcall.com. CQ-Roll Call. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  15. Deslatte, Aaron (5 August 2014). "Florida Legislature: Don't talk to congressional members, political consultants". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  16. Dixon, Matt (December 2, 2015). "Siding with redistricting plaintiffs, top court upends political landscape". Politico Florida. Retrieved May 18, 2016.

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