Florida's 1st congressional district

Florida's 1st congressional district
Florida's first congressional district. Since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative Matt Gaetz (R–Fort Walton Beach)
Area 4,759[1] sq mi (12,330 km2)
Distribution
  • 82.11[2]% urban
  • 17.89% rural
Population (2016) 762,506[3]
Median income 36,738
Ethnicity
Cook PVI R+22[4]

Florida's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida, covering the state's western Panhandle. It includes all of Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton counties and portions of Holmes county. The district is anchored in Pensacola and also includes the large military bedroom communities and tourist destinations of Navarre and Fort Walton Beach and stretches along the Emerald Coast. The district, as ranked by the Cook Partisan Voting Index, is the most Republican district in Florida and the 15th most in the United States.

The district is currently represented by Republican Matt Gaetz.

Characteristics

The district encompasses the western part of the Florida Panhandle, in the extreme western portion of the state, stretching from Pensacola and the Alabama border east to include Walton, Holmes, and Washington counties.

Most of the territory now in the 1st District had been the 3rd District from 1903 to 1963; however, it has been numbered as the 1st District since then. It cast aside its Democratic roots far sooner than most of the other areas of the state. It has not supported a Democrat for President since John F. Kennedy in 1960. In 1964, Republican Barry Goldwater carried the district by such a large margin that it nearly pushed Florida's electoral votes into the Republican column. It has continued to vote for Republicans by very wide margins, with the only exception being 1976, where Gerald Ford won a narrow 50-49 victory over Jimmy Carter. Nonetheless, it usually continued to elect conservative Democrats at the state and local level. In 1992, for instance, Bob Graham easily carried the district with 54 percent of the vote--more than double Bill Clinton's total in the district.

This changed with the Republican Revolution of 1994. That year, Joe Scarborough became the first Republican to represent the Panhandle since Reconstruction. This change was more a result of eight-term conservative Democrat Earl Hutto retiring than of a Republican upsurge. It had been taken for granted that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired, particularly when he was nearly defeated in 1990 and 1992. Republicans also swept most of the district's seats in the legislature. Since then, the district has become arguably the most Republican district in Florida, with Republicans dominating every level of government; indeed, in much of the district, there are no elected Democrats above the county level. No Democratic candidate for the seat has tallied more than 40 percent of the vote since Hutto's retirement. John McCain received 67% of the vote in this district in 2008.

The area comprising the 1st District has maintained a large military presence ever since John Quincy Adams persuaded Spain to sell Florida to the United States in 1819, in part to gain a deepwater port at Pensacola. The U.S. Air Force also has a large presence in Eglin Air Force Base, which is economically important to the district. Slightly under 14,000 people are employed at the base, which is one of the largest air bases in the world and has approximately 100,000 square miles (260,000 km2) of airspace stretching over the Gulf of Mexico to the Florida Keys. Hurlburt Field is an auxiliary field at Eglin AFB and is the location of the Air Force Special Operations Command. Eglin AFB spreads over three counties. Pensacola Naval Air Station was the first Navy base devoted to the specific purpose of aviation, and is the home of the Blue Angels. Saufley Field, used for training, is slightly north of Pensacola NAS.

A large number of veterans who retire relocate to this district. Tourism, particularly in Navarre, Pensacola Beach, and Destin, is a major economic activity.

Voting

Election results from statewide races
Year Office Results
1992 President Bush 51.2 - 25.7%
Senator Graham 54.5 - 45.5%
1994 Senator Mack 80.9 - 19.1%
Governor Bush 60.8 - 39.2%
Secretary of State Mortham 64.1 - 35.9%
Attorney General Ferro 52.8 - 47.2%
Comptroller Milligan 59.1 - 40.9%
Treasurer Ireland 59.7 - 40.3%
Education Commissioner Brogan 64.1 - 35.9%
Agriculture Commissioner Smith 55.6 - 44.4%
1996 President Dole 59.2 - 31.0%
1998 Senator Crist 51.6 - 48.4%
Governor Bush 71.4 - 28.6%
Secretary of State Harris 65.0 - 35.0%
Attorney General Bludworth 57.0 - 43.0%
Comptroller Milligan 71.1 - 28.9%
Treasurer Ireland 58.8 - 41.2%
Education Commissioner Gallagher 67.2 - 32.8%
Agriculture Commissioner Faircloth 54.7 - 45.3%
2000 President Bush 67.7 - 29.8%
Senator McCollum 64.7 - 35.3%
Treasurer Gallagher 73.1 - 26.9%
Education Commissioner Crist 67.6 - 32.4%
2004 President Bush 72 - 28%
2008 President McCain 67 - 32%
2012 President Romney 69 - 31%
2016 President Trump 68 - 28%

Voter registration

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of May 4, 2017
Party Voters Percentage
Republican 285,314 52.80%
Democratic 139,194 25.70%
No Party Affiliation 114,431 21.20%

List of representatives

Representative Party Years Cong
ress		 Electoral history Geographical boundaries
District created March 4, 1875
William J. Purman Republican March 4, 1875 –
March 3, 1877		 44 [Data unknown/missing.] [Data unknown/missing.]
Robert H. M. Davidson Democratic March 4, 1877 –
March 3, 1891		 45
46
47
48
49
50
51		 [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Stephen R. Mallory Democratic March 4, 1891 –
March 3, 1895		 52
53		 [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Stephen M. Sparkman Democratic March 4, 1895 –
March 3, 1917		 54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64		 [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Herbert J. Drane Democratic March 4, 1917 –
March 3, 1933		 65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72		 [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
J. Hardin Peterson Democratic March 4, 1933 –
January 3, 1951		 73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81		 [Data unknown/missing.] [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Chester B. McMullen Democratic January 3, 1951 –
January 3, 1953		 82 [Data unknown/missing.]
Courtney W. Campbell Democratic January 3, 1953 –
January 3, 1955		 83 [Data unknown/missing.] [Data unknown/missing.]
William C. Cramer Republican January 3, 1955 –
January 3, 1963		 84
85
86
87		 Redistricted to the 12th district
Bob Sikes Democratic January 3, 1963 –
January 3, 1979		 88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95		 Redistricted from the 3rd district.

Retired		 [Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Earl Dewitt Hutto Democratic January 3, 1979 –
January 3, 1995		 96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103		 Retired
[Data unknown/missing.]
[Data unknown/missing.]
Joe Scarborough Republican January 3, 1995 –
September 5, 2001		 104
105
106
107		 Resigned
Vacant September 5, 2001 –
October 16, 2001		 107
Jeff Miller Republican October 16, 2001 –
January 3, 2017		 107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114		 First elected to finish Scarborough's term.
Retired
See above
Matt Gaetz Republican January 3, 2017 – Present 115 Incumbent

Election results

2002

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2002)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 152,635 75%
Democratic Bert Oram 51,972 25%
No party Others 19 0.01%%
Total votes 204,626 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2004

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2004)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 236,604 77%
Democratic Mark S. Coutu 72,506 23%
Total votes 309,110 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2006

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2006)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 135,786 69%
No party Joe Roberts 62,340 31%%
Total votes 198,126 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2008

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2008)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 232,559 70%
Democratic James E. Bryan 98,797 30%
Total votes 331,356 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2010

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2010)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 170,821 80%
Independent Joe Cantrell 23,250 11%
Independent John E. Krause 18,253 9%
No party Others 1,202 0.56%%
Total votes 213,526 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2012

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2012)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 238,440 70%
Democratic James E. Bryan 92,961 27%
Libertarian Calen Fretts 11,176 3%
No party William Cleave Drummond II 17 0.0%%
Total votes 342,594 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2014

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2014)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jeff Miller* 165,086 70%
Democratic James E. Bryan 54,976 23%
No party Mark Wichern 15,281 7%
Total votes 235,343 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

2016

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2016)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Matt Gaetz 255,107 69%
Democratic Steven Specht 114,079 31%
Total votes 369,186 100%
Turnout  
Republican hold

Living former representatives

As of January 2018, there are three former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st congressional district who are currently living at this time.

Representative Term in office Date of birth (and age)
Earl Dewitt Hutto 1979–1995 May 12, 1926
Joe Scarborough 1995–2001 April 9, 1963
Jeff Miller 2001–2017 June 27, 1959

References

  1. ↑ "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)" (PDF). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  2. ↑ https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html
  3. ↑ https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=12&cd=01
  4. ↑ "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  • 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

Coordinates: 30°39′46″N 86°39′45″W / 30.66278°N 86.66250°W / 30.66278; -86.66250

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