Rep. Allen Boyd (D) Elected 1996, 5th term
Born:	June 6, 1945, Valdosta, GA
Home:	Monticello
Education:	N. FL Jr. Col., A.A. 1966, FL St. U., B.S. 1969
Religion:	Methodist
Marital Status:	married (Cissy)
Elected  Office:	FL House of Reps., 1989-96.
Military Career:	Army 1969-71 (Vietnam).
Professional Career:	Farmer.
DC Office	1227 LHOB20515, 202-225-5235; Fax: 202-225-5615; Web site: www.house.gov/boyd
State Offices	Panama City, 850-785-0812; Tallahassee, 850-561-3979.
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For most of the 36 days from November 7 to December 12, 2000, Tallahassee was the center of the political universe. Many wondered why this small city, in the middle of swampy lowlands and far from Florida's booming cities and beachfronts, should be the capital of the nation's fourth-largest state. The answer is that it was chosen back when Florida's modest population lived mostly along the state's northern tier, placing Tallahassee, more or less, at the state's center of gravity. Ralph Waldo Emerson, visiting Tallahassee in the 19th century, called it a "grotesque place, rapidly settled by public officers, land speculators and desperadoes." Today the countryside around Tallahassee is distinctly Dixie: Cotton fields, soft pine stands, catfish farms, large families, small towns with big churches. Until recently, Tallahassee was little more than a Spanish-mossed county seat with a handsome Creole capitol, built in 1845 and preserved opposite its 1977 skyscraper replacement, and a pair of state universities. Since the 1980s, however, Tallahassee has spread out and become a middling-sized city, with a tight-knit and sometimes fractious political and legal elite, bringing a taste of newly urbanized Florida to the state's north. Tallahassee has not yet attained the critical mass of Sacramento, Austin, or Albany, but perhaps it is on its way as the state legislature inches closer to professional status.

The 2d Congressional District of Florida is centered on Tallahassee, and extends along the Gulf coast west to Destin and east to the Suwanee River, which empties into the Gulf in the only part of Florida where the beach is still undeveloped. In Gulf County, the pristine bay and large dunes of Port St. Joe have been described as the nation's best beach. Inland, the 2d runs north to the Alabama and Georgia borders, and far enough east to be within an hour's drive of Jacksonville. Historically, this was Democratic country, Jeffersonian and segregationist. Today, it is still mostly Democratic, though for different reasons: More than one in three Tallahassee area jobs are in city and state government, three times the statewide level. The district, 22% black, includes Gadsden County, the state's only black-majority county. Growth is spreading south into Wakulla County, which grew 91% from 1990 to 2004, more than all but three others in Florida. There is similar growth along the beach areas near Destin which have attracted affluent families to "new urbanist" communities like Seaside and Rosemary Beach. But for all this recent growth, this is the part of Florida with the highest percentage of native Floridians.

With state government, two universities and many public employee union members, Tallahassee and Leon County have voted solidly for Democratic presidential nominees; the Florida law that establishes Leon County as the venue for election cases clearly favors Democrats. Beyond Leon County, which casts nearly 40% of the district's votes, partisan performance is less predictable. Gadsden County is heavily Democratic; the Gulf beach areas tend to be Republican. The 2d District has voted twice for George W. Bush, but in 2002 it gave a hefty margin to Democrat Bill McBride over Governor Jeb Bush, who is disliked by most public employee unions.

The congressman from the 2d District is Allen Boyd, a Democrat first elected in 1996. A lifelong farmer, Boyd grew up in Monticello in Jefferson County just east of Tallahassee. He served in Vietnam and graduated from Florida State. His political career began when he won a special election to the state House in 1989. Boyd decided to run for the House in 1996 when Pete Peterson, a moderate Democrat and Vietnam prisoner-of-war, retired after three terms, saying he believed in term limits. In a high-turnout Democratic primary, Boyd won 48% of the vote to 26% for Leon County Commissioner Anita Davis. Boyd easily won the runoff 64%-36%. In the general, Boyd campaigned with Blue Dog conservative Democrats and outspent the Republican by 2-1 to win a solid 59%-40% victory.

In the House, Boyd has worked as a behind the scenes consensus builder. With one of the House's most centrist voting records, he called himself a "moderate Democrat with a social conscience." He was unperturbed when animal rights advocates picketed the Annual Boyd Family Dove Hunt, and was the only Florida Democrat to vote for an amendment that helped kill the 1999 gun control bill. He opposed George W. Bush's 2001 tax cut but voted to repeal the Clinton administration's ergonomics regulation. Later, he opposed trade promotion authority, but he voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, though he said that he wanted Bush to get a United Nations resolution before launching the invasion. In 2003 he was one of 16 House Democrats who voted for the Medicare/prescription drug bill; Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi voiced her unhappiness to Boyd. With Republican John Peterson of Pennsylvania, Boyd chairs the Rural Caucus. As a member of the Appropriations Committee, he has delivered largess to local universities, farmers and military facilities.

In December 2004, Boyd attracted attention and created some heartburn among Democrats when he replaced Charlie Stenholm in co-sponsoring with Republican Jim Kolbe on a bipartisan Social Security package including personal retirement accounts and lower benefits; he said that he would seek additional Democratic supporters, but he was slow to find them in the House. His goal, he said, was "a fair balance between preserving the basic benefit of Social Security while also encouraging individual responsibility." In February 2005, Moveon.org ran television ads in Boyd's district criticizing Bush's proposals.

Boyd has been easily reelected. In 2002, despite unfavorable redistricting changes, Boyd won 67%-33%. In early 2003, after Senator Bob Graham launched a presidential campaign, Boyd made moves to run for the Senate, all the while saying that he would not run if Graham sought reelection. By July Boyd had raised significant money and had a team of consultants in place. In early October Graham ended his presidential candidacy, but did not say whether he would run for reelection; later in the month Boyd announced he would not run for the Senate. In November Graham announced he was retiring.

In 2004, Boyd was challenged by state Representative Bev Kilmer, a former Democrat and an author of books about business and management. She raised substantial funds with prominent campaign supporters, including Laura Bush and Speaker Dennis Hastert. She said she would support George W. Bush's agenda on defense, terrorism, health care and the economy. Boyd countered that he sometimes supported Bush, but said that voters wanted somebody who would be independent and represent their interests. He won handily, 62%-38%, despite losing big in the two western counties along the beach and running even in Panama City's Bay County; he won 71% of the vote in Leon County. Boyd kept his distance from the presidential race--a wise move since Bush twice carried the 2d District. After the 2004 election, he hosted a closed-door meeting at his farm in which state party leaders and likely statewide candidates in 2006 reviewed the party's recent plight and their options going forward.

Committees

• Appropriations (25th of 29 D): Agriculture, Rural Development, FDA & Related Agencies; Military Quality of Life & Veterans Affairs & Related Agencies.

Group Ratings (More Info)
	ADA	ACLU	AFS	LCV	ITIC	NTU	COC	ACU	NTLC	CHC
2004	70	35	88	45	90	23	75	46	23	50	--
2003	70	--	86	60	--	30	71	42	--	--	--

National Journal Ratings (More Info)
	2003 LIB	--	2003 CONS		2004 LIB	--	2004 CONS
Economic	57%	--	43%		53%	--	47%
Social	59%	--	40%		52%	--	48%
Foreign	59%	--	41%		44%	--	56%
For National Journal's complete 2004 Vote Ratings, as well as previous ratings dating back to 1995, please click here.

Key Votes Of The 108th Congress (More Info)
1. Drilling in ANWR Y 2. Approve Bush Tax Cuts N 3. Medicare/Rx Bill Y 4. Bar Overtime Pay Regs. Y 5. DC School Vouchers N 6. Ban Human Cloning *		7. Restrict Gun Liability *  8. Ban Partial-Birth Abortion Y  9. Ban Same-Sex Marriage Y 10. Fund Iraq War Y 11. Bar Cuba Embargo Funds N 12. Intelligence Reorg. Y

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent	Expenditures
2004 general	Allen Boyd (D)	201,577	62%	$2,064,646
	Bev Kilmer (R)	125,399	38%	$1,132,998
2004 primary	Allen Boyd (D)	unopposed
2002 general	Allen Boyd (D)	152,164	67%	$588,785
	Tom McGurk (R)	75,275	33%	$35,916
Prior winning percentages: 2000 (72%); 1998 (100%); 1996 (59%)

2004 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 181,300 (54%) Kerry (D) 153,164 (46%)

2000 Presidential Vote Bush (R) 132,275 (53%) Gore (D) 118,758 (47%)

For 1992 and 1996 presidential results in the Second 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 + 2
• District Size: 11,141 square miles
• Population in 2000: 639,295; 62.1% urban; 37.9% rural
• Median Household Income: $34,718; 16.5% are below the poverty line
• Occupation: 19.3% blue collar; 61.7% white collar; 19.1% gray collar; 15.3% military veterans
• Race/Ethnic Origin: 71.5% White, 22.1% Black, 1.2% Asian, 0.5% Amer. Indian, 0.0% Hawaiian, 1.3% Two+ races, 0.1% Other, 3.3% Hispanic origin
• Ancestry: 10.3% USA, 8.0% English, 7.9% Irish
• Click here for statewide demographic data.