Florida's 2nd congressional district

Florida's 2nd congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative
Area12,871[1] sq mi (33,340 km2)
Distribution
  • 51.34% urban[2]
  • 48.66% rural
Population (2023)799,012[3]
Median household
income
$63,306[4]
Ethnicity
Cook PVIR+8[5]

Florida's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. The district consists of the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle along with much of the Big Bend region along the Emerald Coast. It straddles both the Eastern and Central time zones. It includes Tallahassee, the state capital, and Panama City. With 49% of its residents living in rural areas, it is the least urbanized district in the state, and voters are generally conservative. The district is represented by Republican Neal Dunn of Panama City.

Characteristics

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District is the largest congressional district in Florida by land area and consists of all of Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla, and Washington counties, as well as portions of Walton and Lafayette.

Most of the territory now in the 2nd was the 9th District from 1963 to 1983; it has been the 2nd since 1983. For most of its existence, the 2nd and its predecessors were centered in Tallahassee, the state capital and county seat of Leon County. While the adjacent 1st and 3rd congressional districts had become the most conservative districts in the state by the 1990s, the 2nd District was historically more of a swing district. With a large population of students, government workers and university faculty, Tallahassee was far more liberal than the rest of the district. Democrat Barack Obama received 62 percent of the Leon County vote in the 2008 presidential election, but Republican John McCain received 54 percent of the 2nd district's vote overall.[6] The district had become somewhat friendlier to Republicans when conservative-leaning Panama City was shifted from the 1st District.

The district was significantly redrawn in a court-ordered redistricting that took effect for the 2016 election, following a lawsuit that challenged the district as gerrymandered, preventing African Americans from being able to elect representatives of their choice although they comprised a significant part of the population in the state. Under the new map, most of Tallahassee, along with nearly all of the 2nd's black residents, were drawn into the 5th District.

To make up for the loss in population, the 2nd was shifted slightly to the south to take in territory previously in the nearby 3rd and 11th districts. On paper, the new 2nd was more than 12 points more Republican than its predecessor. Mitt Romney had carried the old 2nd in 2012 although he received only 52 percent of the vote.[7] By comparison, Romney would have carried the new 2nd with 64 percent of the vote in 2012, making it on paper the third-most Republican district in the state.[8]

Voting

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Election results from statewide races
Year Office Results
1992 President Clinton 42.5 - 37.8%
Senator Graham 70.7 - 29.3%
1994 Senator Mack 68.6 - 31.4%
Governor Chiles 55.9 - 44.1%
1996 President Clinton 47.9 - 41.5%
1998 Senator Graham 70.9 - 29.1%
Governor Bush 52.5 - 47.5%
2000 President Bush 49.2 - 48.4%
Senator Nelson 56.7 - 43.3%
2004 President Bush 54 - 46%
2008 President McCain 54 - 45%
2012 President Romney 52 - 47%
2016 President Trump 66.2 - 30.6%
Senate Rubio 65.8 - 30.5%
2020 President Trump 67.0 - 32.0%

Voter registration

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Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of February 20, 2024[9]
Party Voters Percentage
Republican 218,080 42.98%
Democratic 187,805 37.01%
No Party Affiliation 84,548 17.90%

Composition

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# County Seat Population
5 Bay Panama City 190,769
13 Calhoun Blountstown 13,470
37 Franklin Apalachicola 12,594
39 Gadsden Quincy 43,833
45 Gulf Port St. Joe 15,693
59 Holmes Bonifay 19,944
63 Jackson Marianna 48,622
65 Jefferson Monticello 15,450
73 Leon Tallahassee 296,913
77 Liberty Bristol 7,706
79 Madison Madison 18,519
123 Taylor Perry 21,682
129 Wakulla Crawfordville 36,449
131 Walton DeFuniak Springs 86,354
133 Washington Chipley 25,602

Cities with 10,000 or more people

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2,500-10,000 people

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List of members representing the district

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Representative Party Years Cong
ress
Electoral history
District created March 4, 1875

Josiah T. Walls
(Gainesville)
Republican March 4, 1875 –
April 19, 1876
44th Redistricted from the at-large district.
Lost contested election

Jesse J. Finley
(Jacksonville)
Democratic April 19, 1876 –
March 3, 1877
44th Won contested election.
[data missing]

Horatio Bisbee Jr.
(Jacksonville)
Republican March 4, 1877 –
February 20, 1879
45th Lost contested election.

Jesse J. Finley
(Jacksonville)
Democratic February 20, 1879 –
March 3, 1879
45th Won contested election.
[data missing]

Noble A. Hull
(Sanford)
Democratic March 4, 1879 –
January 22, 1881
46th Lost contested election

Horatio Bisbee Jr.
(Jacksonville)
Republican January 22, 1881 –
March 3, 1881
46th Won contested election.
[data missing]

Jesse J. Finley
(Jacksonville)
Democratic March 4, 1881 –
June 1, 1882
47th Lost contested election

Horatio Bisbee Jr.
(Jacksonville)
Republican June 1, 1882 –
March 3, 1885
47th
48th
Won contested election.
Re-elected in 1882.
[data missing]

Charles Dougherty
(Port Orange)
Democratic March 4, 1885 –
March 3, 1889
49th
50th
Elected in 1884.
Re-elected in 1886.
[data missing]

Robert Bullock
(Ocala)
Democratic March 4, 1889 –
March 3, 1893
51st
52nd
Elected in 1888.
Re-elected in 1890.
[data missing]

Charles M. Cooper
(Jacksonville)
Democratic March 4, 1893 –
March 3, 1897
53rd
54th
Elected in 1892.
Re-elected in 1894.
[data missing]

Robert W. Davis
(Palatka)
Democratic March 4, 1897 –
March 3, 1905
55th
56th
57th
58th
Elected in 1896.
Re-elected in 1898.
Re-elected in 1900.
Re-elected in 1902.
[data missing]

Frank Clark
(Gainesville)
Democratic March 4, 1905 –
March 3, 1925
59th
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th
65th
66th
67th
68th

Elected in 1904.
Re-elected in 1906.
Re-elected in 1908.
Re-elected in 1910.
Re-elected in 1912.
Re-elected in 1914.
Re-elected in 1916.
Re-elected in 1918.
Re-elected in 1920.
Re-elected in 1922.
[data missing]

Robert A. Green
(Starke)
Democratic March 4, 1925 –
January 3, 1943
69th
70th
71st
72nd
73rd
74th
75th
76th
77th
Elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
Re-elected in 1930.
Re-elected in 1932.
Re-elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Redistricted to the at-large district.

Emory H. Price
(Jacksonville)
Democratic January 3, 1943 –
January 3, 1949
78th
79th
80th
Elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
[data missing]

Charles E. Bennett
(Jacksonville)
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.
Redistricted to the 3rd district.

Don Fuqua
(Altha)
Democratic January 3, 1967 –
January 3, 1987
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
95th
96th
97th
98th
99th
Redistricted from the 9th district and re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Re-elected in 1972.
Re-elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
[data missing]

James W. Grant
(Madison)
Democratic January 3, 1987 –
February 21, 1989
100th
101st
Elected in 1986.
Re-elected in 1988.
Lost re-election.
Republican February 21, 1989 –
January 3, 1991
101st

Pete Peterson
(Marianna)
Democratic January 3, 1991 –
January 3, 1997
102nd
103rd
104th
Elected in 1990.
Re-elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Retired.

Allen Boyd
(Monticello)
Democratic January 3, 1997 –
January 3, 2011
105th
106th
107th
108th
109th
110th
111th
Elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Re-elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Lost re-election.

Steve Southerland
(Panama City)
Republican January 3, 2011 –
January 3, 2015
112th
113th
Elected in 2010.
Re-elected in 2012.
Lost re-election.

Gwen Graham
(Tallahassee)
Democratic January 3, 2015 –
January 3, 2017
114th Elected in 2014.
Retired due to redistricting.

Neal Dunn
(Panama City)
Republican January 3, 2017 –
present
115th
116th
117th
118th
Elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022.

Election results

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2002

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2002)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Allen Boyd* 152,164 67%
Republican Tom McGurk 75,275 33%
Total votes 227,439 100%
Turnout  
Democratic hold

2004

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2004)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Allen Boyd* 201,577 62%
Republican Bev Kilmer 125,399 38%
Total votes 326,976 100%
Turnout  
Democratic hold

2006

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2006)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Allen Boyd* 100%
Total votes 100%
Turnout  
Democratic hold

2008

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2008)
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Allen Boyd* 216,804 62%
Republican Mark Mulligan 133,404 38%
No party Others 159 0.05
Total votes 350,367 100%
Turnout  
Democratic hold

2010

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2010)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Southerland 136,371 54%
Democratic Allen Boyd* 105,211 41%
Independent Paul Crandall McKain 7,135 3%
Independent Dianne J. Berryhill 5,705 2%
No party Others 16 0
Total votes 254,438 100%
Turnout  
Republican gain from Democratic

2012

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2012)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Southerland* 175,856 53%
Democratic Alfred Lawson, Jr. 157,634 47%
No party Floyd Patrick Miller 228 0.01
Total votes 333,718 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2014

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election, (2014)[10]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Gwen Graham 126,096 50.5%
Republican Steve Southerland* 123,262 49.3%
Write-in Luther Lee 422 0.2%
Total votes 249,780 100%
Democratic gain from Republican

2016

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2016)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Neal Dunn 231,163 67%
Democratic Walter Dartland 102,801 30%
Libertarian Rob Lapham 9,395 3%
No party Others 3 0
Total votes 343,362 100%
Turnout  
Republican gain from Democratic

2018

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Florida's 2nd Congressional District Election (2018)[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Neal Dunn (Incumbent) 199,335 67.4%
Democratic Bob Rackleff 96,233 32.6%
Total votes 295,568 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2020

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2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Neal Dunn (incumbent) 305,337 97.86%
Independent Kim O'Connor (write-in) 6,662 2.14%
Total votes 311,999 100.0
Republican hold

2022

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2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Neal Dunn (incumbent) 180,236 59.8%
Democratic Al Lawson (incumbent) 121,153 40.2%
Total votes 301,389 100.0
Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

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References

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  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  • Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Notes

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  1. ^ "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)" (PDF). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
  2. ^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (state-based)". www.census.gov. US Census Bureau Geography.
  3. ^ "My Congressional District". www.census.gov. Center for New Media & Promotion (CNMP), US Census Bureau.
  4. ^ "My Congressional District".
  5. ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  6. ^ "2008 Florida: Presidential County Results". The New York Times.
  7. ^ "Daily Kos Elections 2008 & 2012 presidential election results for congressional districts used in 2012 & 2014 elections". google.com.
  8. ^ "Florida election results by 2016 congressional districts". google.com.
  9. ^ "Bookclosing Reports - Regular - Division of Elections - Florida Department of State". dos.myflorida.com. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  10. ^ "November 4, 2014 General Election Official Results". Florida Department of State Division of Elections. Archived from the original on January 24, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  11. ^ "Florida's 2nd Congressional District election, 2018".

30°16′58″N 84°43′49″W / 30.28278°N 84.73028°W / 30.28278; -84.73028