Florida at a Glance State Profile - Gov. Bush (R) - Sen. Graham (D) - Sen. Nelson (D) Presidential Politics Congressional Districting - 01 - Miller (R) - 02 - Boyd Jr. (D) - 03 - Brown (D) - 04 - Crenshaw (R) - 05 - Brown-Waite (R) - 06 - Stearns (R) - 07 - Mica (R) - 08 - Keller (R) - 09 - Bilirakis (R) - 10 - Young (R) - 11 - Davis (D) - 12 - Putnam (R) - 13 - Harris (R) - 14 - Goss (R) - 15 - Weldon (R) - 16 - Foley (R) - 17 - Meek (D) - 18 - Ros-Lehtinen (R) - 19 - Wexler (D) - 20 - Deutsch (D) - 21 - Diaz-Balart (R) - 22 - Shaw Jr. (R) - 23 - Hastings (D) - 24 - Feeney (R) - 25 - Diaz-Balart (R) Almanac 2004 Home - States & Districts - Elected Officials - Committees - Election Cycles - Guide To Usage Almanac 2002 Almanac 2000 Almanac 1998 For district profiles and additional information on the elected officials of Florida, please use the pull-down menu above.

108th Lineup: 18 R, 7 D
107th Lineup: 15 R, 8 D
District Map: Click here

Florida has gained congressional districts from every Census since 1930, when it was still the smallest state in the South: in 1930 it elected four House members; in the 2000 Census it gained two seats, for a total of 25. In 1992, when the state gained four seats, Democrats controlled the redistricting process, but they were so conflicted they could not produce a plan. The lines were instead drawn by a federal court in May 1992, and the 3d and adjacent districts redrawn after another court ruling in April 1996. Three black Democrats were elected for the first time in 1992; the delegation went from 10-9 Republican in 1992 to 15-8 Republican after the 1994 election.

In 2002 the redistricting process was controlled by Republicans, who unlike the Democrats in 1992 were able to agree on a plan and passed it in March 2002. Disagreement between the House and Senate was resolved when senators agreed to create a district tailor-made for House Speaker Tom Feeney; the other new district was tailor-made for Mario Diaz-Balart, chairman of the House Congressional Districting Committee and brother of 21st District Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart. (This was in line with previous practice: the two chairmen of the 1992 Senate and House redistricting committees, Karen Thurman and Peter Deutsch, both ended up with seats in the U.S. House). When Democratic Attorney General Bob Butterworth failed to pass it along to the Department of Justice for Voting Rights Act review, Governor Jeb Bush sent it there in May 2002. Democrats filed lawsuits against the plan in state and federal courts. The Justice Department approved the plan on June 7. The state court on June 17 dismissed the suit and said the federal court had jurisdiction. On July 9, in time for the filing deadline, a three-judge federal court approved the plan.

This was one of the most successful partisan redistrictings of the 2002 cycle. Feeney and Diaz-Balart were both elected to the House by wide margins. Karen Thurman was defeated by Republican state Senator Ginny Brown-Waite. Two senior Republicans, Bill Young of St. Petersburg and Clay Shaw of Fort Lauderdale, were strengthened; both represented areas which were among the first in Florida to elect Republican congressmen, but which had become more Democratic in the 1980s and 1990s. Democrat Allen Boyd of the 2d District was weakened. The seats of the three black Democrats and two Latino Republicans were protected, although the black percentage in Alcee Hastings's 23d District was reduced. The 2002 plan produced a delegation of 18 Republicans and 7 Democrats, a lopsided Republican majority in a state that was evenly divided in the 2000 presidential election. Florida now has the second largest Republican delegation in the House; its 18 Republican congressmen are almost as numerous as California's 20.