The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, to elect the 27 U.S. representatives from the state of Florida, one from each of the state's 27 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States.
A lawsuit challenging the districts under Florida's Congressional District Boundaries Amendment (Fair Districts Amendment) was filed in 2012 and was resolved in 2015. The results of the lawsuit had major repercussions on the congressional races in Florida in 2016. The primaries were held on August 30.
In 2014, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis threw out the congressional map for violating Florida's 2010 Amendment 6 to the state Constitution, commonly called the Fair Districts Amendment. The ruling specifically applied to and . Subsequent rulings by higher courts and concluding in the Supreme Court of Florida also struck down , , and , which also necessitated redraws of varying scale to the districts surrounding them.
Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida by district:
Republican Jeff Miller had represented the district since being elected in 2001. He considered running for the U.S. Senate. On July 30, 2015, Miller decided not to run for the open Senate seat and announced he would run for reelection. In March 2016, Miller announced he would not run for reelection.
State Senator Greg Evers had expressed his interest in running for this seat if Miller had run for the Senate.
In the August 30 primary, Matt Gaetz defeated his six rivals for the nomination.
Redistricting significantly altered the 2nd, mainly by shifting most of Tallahassee's African American residents to the 5th District. On paper, this made the 2nd heavily Republican. Democrat Gwen Graham represented the district for one term after being elected in 2014, when she beat Republican incumbent Steve Southerland. She did not run for re-election.
The primary results were too close to call as of September 1, 2016.
Dunn won the primary on August 30, 2016.
Republican Ted Yoho had represented the district since being elected in 2012, and ran unopposed. Businessman Ken McGurn also ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Republican Ander Crenshaw had represented the district since being elected in 2000. On April 14, 2016, he announced that he would not run for re-election.
John Rutherford won the primary on August 30, 2016.
Former Jacksonville City Councilman and former state representative Eric Smith announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination. On June 22, 2016, Smith announced that he was withdrawing from the race, leaving no Democratic candidates two days before the close of filing.
Dave Bruderly, an environmental engineer who was the nominee for Florida's 6th congressional district in 2004 and 2006, qualified on the last day of filing, and thus was nominated unopposed.
Democrat Corrine Brown had represented the district and its various permutations since 1993. The court-ordered redistricting significantly altered her district. She had previously represented a district stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando. The new map pushed the 5th well to the north and west, and made it a more compact district stretching from Tallahassee to Jacksonville.
In July 2016, Brown and her chief of staff were indicted on charges of fraud.
In the Democratic primaryâÂÂthe real contest in this districtâÂÂshe was defeated by former state senator Al Lawson of Tallahassee.
2014 Republican nominee Glo Smith and 2014 Republican candidate Thuy Lowe initially both ran again. Lowe later switched from this district to a campaign for the 10th district. Hence Scurry-Smith ran unopposed on primary day, August 30, 2016.
Republican Ron DeSantis had represented the district since being elected in 2012. DeSantis ran for the U.S. Senate, initially creating an open seat, although on June 22, 2016, he withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House.
Republican John Mica had represented the 7th District since 1992. However, since the Florida Supreme Court's 2015 redistricting decision, Florida's 7th District now includes all of Seminole County and northern Orange County, including downtown Orlando, Winter Park, and the main campus of the University of Central Florida. In 2012, when Mica ran for re-election, he won with 59% of the vote, his smallest margin of victory in twenty years.
Mica ran for re-election and wound up only facing Mark Busch in the primary election after John Morning ended his campaign in November 2015.
Banker Bill Phillips announced a run for the seat on October 19, 2015, but suspended his campaign in February 2016, and ended it in April.
Stephanie Murphy, a businesswoman, Rollins College professor and former U.S. Defense Department national security specialist, entered the race on June 23, 2016, and ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Republican Bill Posey had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 15th district from 2009 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. He ran for re-election.
Democrat Alan Grayson had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 8th district from 2009 to 2011, prior to the decennial redistricting. On July 9, 2015, Grayson announced he would run for U.S. Senate in 2016 rather than seek re-election. Grayson lost the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat to 18th congressional district Representative Patrick Murphy, who defeated Grayson and was declared the winner on August 30, 2016.
Soto was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for the 9th District on August 30, 2016.
Republican Daniel Webster had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 8th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. However, after redistricting made the 10th substantially more Democratic, Webster opted to run in the neighboring 11th District, which included a slice of his former territory.
Geoff LaGarde withdrew his name from the race on June 24, and endorsed Thuy Lowe for the nomination. Lowe was declared the nominee, and no Republican primary was held.
Demings was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for the 10th District on August 30, 2016.
Republican Rich Nugent represented the district since being elected in 2011 (it was numbered as the 5th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting). He did not seek re-election.
Webster was declared the primary winner on August 30, 2016.
Republican Gus Bilirakis had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 9th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Republican David Jolly had represented the district since being elected in a special election in 2014. Jolly ran for the U.S. Senate, initially creating an open seat, though, on June 17, 2016, he withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House, citing "unfinished business."
Democrat Kathy Castor had represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 11th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Businesswoman Christine Quinn challenged Castor as a Republican.
Republican Dennis A. Ross had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 12th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Jim Lange challenged Ross as a Democrat.
Republican Vern Buchanan had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 16th district from 2009 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Buchanan ran for re-election. Buchanan had previously considered running for the U.S. Senate instead.
If Buchanan had not run for re-election, potential Republican candidates expected to be interested in running included Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano, State Senator Nancy Detert, former state senator Pat Neal, Manatee County Supervisor of Elections Mike Bennett, State Representative Greg Steube, and Sarasota Sheriff Tom Knight.
Republican Tom Rooney had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 13th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Rooney considered running for the U.S. Senate, but decided to run for re-election instead.
Democrat Patrick Murphy had represented the district since being elected in 2012. On March 23, 2015, he announced that he would run for U.S. Senate rather than reelection, creating an open seat. Murphy defeated Alan Grayson in the primary on August 30, 2016, and faced Marco Rubio in the November general election.
Mast defeated Perkins in the general election.
Republican Curt Clawson had represented the district since being elected in a special election in 2014. He was mentioned as a potential candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016. In May 2016, Clawson announced he would not seek a second term.
Democrat Alcee Hastings had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 23rd district from 1993 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Hastings announced in November 2014 that he would run for re-election in 2016.
Democrat Ted Deutch had represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 19th district from 2010 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting. Deutch considered running for the U.S. Senate, but decided to run for re-election instead. If Deutch had run for Senate, State Senator Joseph Abruzzo was interested in running for this seat.
As a result of 2015's statewide redistricting, incumbent Deutch effectively swapped seats with Lois Frankel, then incumbent of the 22nd District. Deutch would seek election to the 22nd District seat while Frankel sought election to District 21.
Democrat Lois Frankel had represented the district since being elected in 2012. As a result of 2015's statewide redistricting, incumbent Frankel would effectively swap seats with Ted Deutch, the current incumbent of the 21st District. Frankel sought election to the 21st District seat while Deutch sought election to District 22.
Boca Raton businessman Joseph Bensmihen was challenging Frankel as a Republican. Physician Marc Freeman had also filed to run as a Republican, but switched to run in the 18th district.
Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz had represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 20th district from 2005 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Democrat Frederica Wilson had represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 17th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Democrat Frederica Wilson was unopposed in the general election.
Republican Mario DÃÂaz-Balart had represented the district since 2012. He previously represented the 21st district from 2011 to 2013, as well as a different version of the 25th from 2003 to 2011, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Republican Carlos Curbelo had represented the district since being elected in 2014.
Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 18th district from 1989 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
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