2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida


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 was filed in 2012 and was resolved in 2015. The results of the lawsuit will have major repercussions on the congressional races in Florida in 2016. The primaries were held on August 30.

Redistricting lawsuit

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.

District 1

Republican primary

Republican Jeff Miller has represented the district since being elected in 2001. Miller 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 Rebekah Johansen Bydlak, Cris Dosev, Greg Evers, Gary Fairchild, Brian Frazier, Mark Wichern, and James Zumwalt for the nomination.

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidate

Results

District 2

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.

Democratic primary

Steve Crapps filed to run as a Democrat in the primary as did former Deputy Attorney General Walter Dartland.
The primary results were too close to call as of September 1, 2016.

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared
Dunn won the primary on August 30, 2016.

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian primary

Candidates

;Declared

Results

District 3

Republican Ted Yoho has represented the district since being elected in 2012, and ran unopposed. Businessman Kenneth McGurn also ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 4

Republican Ander Crenshaw has represented the district since being elected in 2000. On April 14, 2016, he announced that he will not run for re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared
John Rutherford won the primary on August 30, 2016.

Polling

Poll sourceDate
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		Jay
Fant		Stephen
Kaufman		Ed
Malin		Bill
McClure		Deborah
Katz Pueschel		Lake
Ray		John
Rutherford		Hans
Tanzler		Undecided
August 4–8, 2016600± 4%—2%3%5%<1%10%31%13%38%
June 28–29, 2016403± 4.9%—<1%<1%2%2%9%27%13%46%
April 19, 2016440± 4.7%6%————13%49%—32%

Results

Democratic primary

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 ran unopposed.

General election

Results

District 5

Democratic primary

Democrat Corrine Brown has 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 primary—the real contest in this district—she was defeated by former state senator Al Lawson of Tallahassee.

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Gloreatha "Glo" Scurry-Smith ran unopposed on primary day, August 30, 2016.

General election

Results

District 6

Republican Ron DeSantis has represented the district since being elected in 2012. DeSantis ran for the U.S. Senate, initially creating an open seat, though, on June 22, 2016, he withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House.

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared
;Withdrawn
;Declined

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared

General election

Results

District 7

Republican primary

Republican John Mica has 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 unopposed in the primary election after John Morning ended his campaign in November 2015.

Results

Democratic primary

, a businesswoman, professor and former U.S. Defense Department national security specialist, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 8

Republican primary

Republican Bill Posey has 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.

Democratic primary

Corry Westbrook, former legislative director of the National Wildlife Federation, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 9

Democrat Alan Grayson has 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.

Democratic primary

was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for the 9th District on August 30, 2016, defeating Valleri Crabtree, Dena Minning Grayson and Susannah Randolph.

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared
;Declined

General election

Results

District 10

Republican Daniel Webster has 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.

Republican primary

Candidates

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.

Democratic primary

, former Orlando Police Chief and nominee for the 10th congressional district in 2012, was declared the winner of the Democratic primary for the 10th District on August 30, 2016.

Candidates

;Declared

General election

Results

District 11

Republican Rich Nugent represented the district since being elected in 2011. He is not seeking re-election.

Republican primary

On the Republican side, Nugent's former chief-of-staff Justin Grabelle ran. 10th District congressman Daniel Webster ran against Grabelle in the Republican primary for the 11th; Webster was declared the primary winner on August 30, 2016.

Results

Democratic primary

Businessman Dave Koller, who was the Democratic nominee in 2014, ran unopposed in the 2016 primary.

General election

Results

District 12

Republican Gus Bilirakis has represented the district since being elected in 2012. He previously represented the 9th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Attorney Robert Tager ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 13

Republican David Jolly has 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."

Republican primary

Candidates

;Declared
;Declined

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared
;Withdrew
;Declined

General election

Polling

Results

District 14

Democrat Kathy Castor has 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 is challenging Castor as a Republican.

General election

Results

District 15

Republican Dennis A. Ross has 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 is challenging Ross as a Democrat.

General election

Results

District 16

Republican Vern Buchanan has 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.
Attorney Jan Schneider and airline pilot Brent King are running for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Results

General election

Results

District 17

Republican Tom Rooney has 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.
Businesswoman April Freeman ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 18

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. Rubio defeated Murphy. Republican Brian Mast, a former U.S. Army bomb technician and Democrat Randy Perkins, founder and CEO of Ashbritt won their parties' respective primary elections on August 30, 2016. Mast defeated Perkins in the general election.

Democratic primary

Results

Republican primary

Polling

Results

General election

Polling

Results

District 19

Republican Curt Clawson has represented the district since being elected in a special election in 2014. Clawson 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.

Republican primary

Candidates

Republicans running for their party's nomination include Sanibel councilman Chauncey Goss, businessman and former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican Francis Rooney and former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino.
Potential candidates included Republicans Paige Kreegel, Fort Myers Councilman Tom Leonardo, and former state representative Tom Grady, as well as Democratic businesswoman April Freeman, who was the party's nominee in 2014 for both the special election and in November.

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Robert Neeld ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

General election

Results

District 20

Democrat Alcee Hastings has 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.

General election

Results

District 21

Democrat Ted Deutch has 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, the current incumbent of the 22nd District. Deutch will seek election to the 22nd District seat while Frankel seeks election to District 21.

General election

Results

District 22

Democrat Lois Frankel has represented the district since being elected in 2012.
Boca Raton businessman Joseph Bensmihen is challenging Frankel as a Republican. Physician Marc Freeman had also filed to run as a Republican, but switched to run in the 18th district.
As a result of 2015's statewide redistricting, incumbent Frankel will effectively be swapping seats with Ted Deutch, the current incumbent of the 21st District. Frankel will seek election to the 21st District seat while Deutch seeks election to District 22.

General election

Results

District 23

Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz has represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 20th district from 2005 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Democratic primary

Candidates

;Declared
;Declined

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

General election

Results

District 24

Democratic primary

Democrat Frederica Wilson has represented the district since being elected in 2012. She previously represented the 17th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.
Retired NFL player and former U.S. Homeland Security agent Randal Hill challenged Wilson for the Democratic nomination.

Results

General election

Results

Democrat Frederica Wilson was unopposed in the general election.

District 25

Republican Mario Díaz-Balart has 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. The Democratic candidate is Dr. Alina Valdes; neither candidate will face a primary opponent.

General election

Results

District 26

Republican Carlos Curbelo has represented the district since being elected in 2014.

Democratic primary

Annette Taddeo, nominee for Florida's 18th congressional district in 2008 and nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Florida in 2014, is set to challenge Curbelo as a Democrat. Former U.S. Representative Joe Garcia, however, is seeking a rematch against Curbelo.

Polling

Results

General election

Results

District 27

Republican primary

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.

Results

Democratic primary

US Army veteran Frank Perez, businessman Scott Fuhrman, and attorney Adam Sackrin are running for the Democratic nomination.

Results

General election

Results