Rep. Cliff Stearns (R) Elected 1988, 8th term
Born:	Apr. 16, 1941, Washington, DC
Home:	Ocala
Education:	George Washington U., B.S. 1963
Religion:	Presbyterian
Marital Status:	married (Joan)
Military Career:	Air Force, 1963-67.
Professional Career:	Data Control Systems Inc., 1967-68; Negotiator, CBS, 1969-70; Pres., Stearns House Inc., 1972-present.
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The flat grasslands of central Florida, once bypassed by southbound tourists heading for the coast, has over the past two decades become a prime growth area in this high-growth state. Central Florida's economy once depended on farming, on tourists getting off the interstate, and on state institutions, most notably the University of Florida in Gainesville. Then retirees began settling in places like the bluegrass country around Ocala, one of America's prime horse-breeding grounds, and Leesburg, perched on a narrow spit of land between Lake Griffin and Lake Harris. Initially, these areas were studded with trailer parks and mobile home developments, but the 1990s brought more upscale development, albeit nothing approaching the high-rise apartments and gated communities that line the coasts further south. Some of this development is at the intersection of Lake, Marion and Sumter counties in the rapidly expanding "Villages" retirement community. This part of central Florida grew by nearly 30 percent during the 1990s, with persons 65 and over accounting for roughly one of every six residents.

The 6th Congressional District includes much of central Florida and also part of the Jacksonville metropolitan area, connected by a thin strip of lightly populated counties. In the south it includes parts of Marion and Sumter Counties, around Ocala, and a corner of Lake County. In the north it includes the western part of Jacksonville's Duval County and most of Clay County just to the south. In between it includes most of Alachua County and Gainesville, home of the University of Florida, where students from wealthier parts of Florida study in a town with many flimsy houses from the impoverished South of 50 years ago; here they can become part of a Florida elite bonded by shared memories of the Gator Growl festivities. On balance, this is a Republican district. The Gainesville area is the exception: Alachua is one of the few Florida counties to vote Democratic in virtually all elections, but the most heavily Democratic precincts were placed by Republican redistricters in the 3d District. The country around Ocala and the Villages in the south is pretty heavily Republican; western Jacksonville and Clay County are solidly Republican. In 2002 Governor Jeb Bush won 77% of the vote in Clay County, his highest percentage in any of Florida's 67 counties. Overall the 6th District voted 58% for George W. Bush in 2000.

The congressman from the 6th District is Cliff Stearns, a Republican elected in 1988. Stearns grew up and attended public schools in Washington, D.C. and served in the Air Force. In 1972 he went into Florida real estate and ended up owning five motels, three restaurants and other property. He was "someone who works in the community, goes to church with his neighbors, and doesn't live in Tallahassee," as he put it in his 1988 campaign, when he beat the favorite, state House Speaker Jon Mills, 54%-46%. "I was elected to put the federal government on a diet," Stearns said, and went on to compile a conservative voting record. He was first noticed on Capitol Hill for cutting staff pay raises. In 1994 he penned the letter signed by 87 Republicans calling for the resignation of then-Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders. Since losing a low-level leadership contest in 1994, he has shown independence of the leadership. He opposed IMF funding, trade promotion authority and PNTR with China. In the cliffhanger vote in December 2001 on trade promotion authority, Stearns was among a handful of Republicans who paced the House floor and delayed casting their vote until it became clear that their party needed them. In 2001 he lost on House floor amendments to reduce spending for the National Endowment for the Arts and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Stearns has become an active legislator. On the Veterans Committee, he sponsored a research center on Gulf War syndrome and won new medical facilities and benefits for disabled vets. On Energy and Commerce, he has worked for privacy for health care and genetic records. In 2000 he helped pass the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act, which encourages the use of defibrillators and installs them in all federal buildings. He has been a leader in letting the states take the lead in utility deregulation and wants to drop the requirement that utilities purchase power from renewable and non-traditional energy sources. As chairman of the revamped Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, he focused on the widely varying state laws regulating Internet content and wanted to make sure that they do not obstruct e-commerce. With Rick Boucher, he filed a broadly-backed bipartisan bill on consumer privacy issues that permitted businesses to collect and share personal financial information unless consumers opt out. Stearns helped to prepare the post-Enron bill to set stricter standards in accounting. He enacted a bill amending the Consumer Product Safety Act to cover low-speed electric bicycles.

Stearns has not suffered from breaking a 1988 promise to serve only six terms. He was unopposed in 1998 and 2000. The addition of the Gainesville area to the district may have sparked opposition in 2002. But Stearns carried Alachua County 51%-49% and won by much bigger margins in other counties--65%-35% in Marion and 77%-23% in Clay--for a 65%-35% victory.

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DC Office
2370 RHOB 20515, 202-225-5744; Fax: 202-225-3973; Web site: www.house.gov/stearns

State Offices
Gainesville, 352-337-0003; Ocala, 352-351-8777; Orange Park, 904-269-3203.

Committees

• Energy & Commerce (5th of 31 R): Commerce, Trade & Consumer Protection (Chmn.); Oversight & Investigations; Telecommunications & the Internet (Vice Chmn.).
• Veterans' Affairs (6th of 17 R): Health.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	CON	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2002	5	7	22	50	94	62	65	82	96	97	100
2001	5	--	0	14	--	--	74	91	96	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2001 LIB	--	2001 CONS		2002 LIB	--	2002 CONS
Economic	36%	--	63%		27%	--	72%
Social	0%	--	81%		0%	--	75%
Foreign	29%	--	69%		29%	--	71%
For National Journal's complete 2002 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 107th Congress (More Info)
1. Approve Bush Tax Cuts Y 2. Limit Patients' Bill of Rights Y 3. Campaign Finance Reform N 4. Ban ANWR Development N 5. Faith-Based Charities Y 6. Bar Gays in the Boy Scouts Y		7. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion *  8. Arm Commercial Pilots Y  9. Trade Promotion Authority Y 10. Bar Funds for Intl. Court Y 11. Authorize Force in Iraq Y 12. Deny Home. Sec. Dept. Union Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2002 general	Cliff Stearns (R)	141,570	65%	$332,419
	David Bruderly (D)	75,046	35%	$58,524
2002 primary	Cliff Stearns (R)	unopposed
2000 general	Cliff Stearns (R)	unopposed
Prior winning percentages: 1998 (100%); 1996 (67%); 1994 (100%); 1992 (65%); 1990 (59%); 1988 (54%)

2000 presidential
	Bush (R)	142,489	58%
	Gore (D)	102,179	42%
For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Sixth District, please see the Almanac 2000 online. Please note that these older returns reflect district lines as they existed prior to 2002 redistricting.

• Cook Partisan Voting Index: R + 9
• District Size: 3,026 square miles
• Population in 2000: 639,295; 69.4% urban; 30.6% rural
• Median Household Income: $36,846; 13.4% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 21.7% blue collar; 61.4% white collar; 16.9% gray collar; 18.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 78.9% White, 11.9% Black, 2.2% Asian, 0.3% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.4% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 5.2% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.7% German, 9.1% Irish, 8.9% English
• Click here for statewide demographic data.