Florida's 5th congressional district explained

State:Florida
District Number:5
Image Caption:Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative:John Rutherford
Party:Republican
Residence:Jacksonville
English Area:3,911[1]
Distribution Ref:[2]
Percent Urban:83.37
Percent Rural:16.63
Population:801,685[3]
Population Year:2022
Median Income:$84,630
Percent White:64.7
Percent Hispanic:12.1
Percent Black:11.6
Percent Asian:6.0
Percent More Than One Race:4.8
Percent Other Race:0.9
Cpvi:R+11[4]

Florida's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Florida. It includes the southeastern area of Jacksonville which comprises areas such as Arlington, East Arlington, Southside, Mandarin, San Jose, and the Beaches. It stretches south to St. Augustine in St. Johns County.

From 2002 to 2013 the district comprised all of Citrus, Hernando, and Sumter counties and most of Lake, Levy, and Pasco counties and portions of Marion and Polk counties. The district included northern exurbs of Tampa and western exurbs of Orlando within the high-growth Interstate 4 Corridor. This iteration of the 5th district is now largely contained in the 11th district.

As defined by the state legislature in 2013 (which lasted until 2017), the 5th district ran from Jacksonville to Orlando; it was considered one of the most-gerrymandered congressional districts in the country.[5] Before 2013, similar territory was included in the 3rd district.

After court-mandated redistricting, the district became a majority-minority district from 2017 to 2023. It extended along Florida's northern boundary from Jacksonville to Tallahassee and included all of Baker, Gadsden, Hamilton and Madison counties and portions of Columbia, Duval, Jefferson, and Leon counties.

The district is currently represented by Republican John Rutherford.

Characteristics

Florida's 3rd congressional district was renumbered to 5th congressional district but was little changed in the redistricting process in 2012, still winding from Orlando in the south to central Jacksonville in the north.[6]

From 1973 to 1993 the erstwhile 3rd district was based in Orange County, including Walt Disney World and most of Orlando. The peculiar shape of the 3rd (now 5th) congressional district dates from reapportionment done by the Florida Legislature after the 1990 U.S. census. The 1993–2012 3rd congressional district was geographically distinctive. Starting from the southern part of the district, it included the Pine Hills area of the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Area with small pockets of African-American neighborhoods in the cities of Sanford, Gainesville, Palatka, and finally the larger African American communities of Jacksonville.[7] Connecting these areas were regions which are sparsely populated—either expansive rural areas or narrow strips which are only a few miles wide.[8] Barack Obama received 73% of the vote in this district in the 2008 Presidential election.

Court-ordered changes

On July 11, 2014, Florida Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that this district, along with the neighboring District 10, had been drawn to favor the Republican Party by packing black Democratic voters into District 5.[7] [9] On August 1, Judge Lewis gave Florida's state legislature an Aug. 15 deadline to submit new congressional maps for those two districts.[10]

5th district Representative Corrine Brown issued a statement blasting Lewis's decision on the district map as "seriously flawed",[11] and Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Marcia Fudge sent a sharply worded letter to Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel complaining about the party's support for the lawsuit challenging Florida's district maps.[12]

Brown said that "we will go all the way to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with making sure that African Americans are not disenfranchised."[13] Florida House Redistricting Chairman Richard Corcoran, a Republican, said that "consideration of political data is legally required" to ensure that district boundaries would not be so shifted as to not allow African-Americans a chance to elect representatives of their choice.[14]

On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court approved a redrawn version of District 5 on December 2, 2015. That plan went into effect for the 2016 elections.[15] The new district had a dramatically different shape than its predecessor. It now stretched in an east-west configuration along the Georgia border from downtown Jacksonville to Tallahassee. However, it was no less Democratic than its predecessor, as noted in the Florida Supreme Court's final opinion:

Voting

Election results from presidential races
YearOfficeResults
1992PresidentClinton 42–34%
1996PresidentClinton 50–37%
2000PresidentGore 50–46%
2004PresidentBush 58–41%
2008PresidentMcCain 56–43%
2012PresidentObama 63–35%
2016PresidentClinton 61–35%
2020PresidentBiden 62–36%

Composition

CountySeatPopulation
31DuvalJacksonville1,030,822
109St. JohnsSt. Augustine320,110

Cities with 10,000 or more people

2,500-10,000 people

List of members representing the district

MemberPartyYearsCong
ress
Electoral historyDistrict location
District created January 3, 1937

Joe Hendricks
DemocraticJanuary 3, 1937 –
January 3, 1949
Elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Re-elected in 1940.
Re-elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Retired.
1937–1943
1943–1953

Syd Herlong
DemocraticJanuary 3, 1949 –
January 3, 1967
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.
Re-elected in 1966.
Redistricted to the .
1953–1963
1963–1973
align=left
Edward Gurney
Republicannowrap January 3, 1967 –
January 3, 1969
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1966.
Retired.
align=left
Louis Frey Jr.
Republicannowrap January 3, 1969 –
January 3, 1973
Elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Redistricted to the .
align=left
Bill Gunter
Democraticnowrap January 3, 1973 –
January 3, 1975
Elected in 1972.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
1973–1983
align=left
Richard Kelly
Republicannowrap January 3, 1975 –
January 3, 1981
Elected in 1974.
Re-elected in 1976.
Re-elected in 1978.
Lost renomination after involvement in the Abscam scandal.

Bill McCollum
RepublicanJanuary 3, 1981 –
January 3, 1993
Elected in 1980.
Re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 196.
Re-elected in 1988.
Re-elected in 1990.
Redistricted to the .
1983–1993
align=left
Karen Thurman
Democraticnowrap January 3, 1993 –
January 3, 2003
Elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Re-elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Re-elected in 2000.
Lost re-election.
1993–2003
align=left
Ginny Brown-Waite
Republicannowrap January 3, 2003 –
January 3, 2011
Elected in 2002.
Re-elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Re-elected in 2008.
Retired due to health problems.
2003–2013
align=left
Rich Nugent
Republicannowrap January 3, 2011 –
January 3, 2013
Elected in 2010.
Redistricted to the .
align=left
Corrine Brown
Democraticnowrap January 3, 2013 –
January 3, 2017
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Lost renomination after criminal indictment.
2013–2017
align=left
Al Lawson
Democraticnowrap January 3, 2017 –
January 3, 2023
Elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Redistricted to the and lost re-election in 2022.
2017–2023
align=left
John Rutherford
Republicannowrap January 3, 2023 –
present
Redistricted from the and re-elected in 2022.2023–present:
Most of Jacksonville, along with parts of that city's southern and eastern suburbs and the city of St. Augustine
200px

Election results

2010

2012

2014

2018

2020

References

29.3853°N -81.7511°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. 11 January 2017.
  2. Web site: Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based) . . April 2, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130402141525/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/cd_state.html . dead.
  3. Web site: My Congressional District.
  4. Web site: 2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List. 2023-01-10. Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022 . en.
  5. Web site: America's most gerrymandered congressional districts . Ingraham . Christopher . May 15, 2014 . . May 21, 2014.
  6. News: Florida's 5th Congressional District. 5 August 2014. WJXT - Jacksonville. 24 July 2012.
  7. News: James. Frank. Florida Ruling Is A Primer On Redistricting Chicanery. 5 August 2014. NPR.org. National Public Radio. 11 July 2014.
  8. News: Leary. Alex. Democrat U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown again aligns with GOP in Florida redistricting battle. 5 August 2014. Tampa Bay Times. 14 May 2011. October 7, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171007214804/http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/democrat-us-rep-corrine-brown-again-aligns-with-gop-in-florida/1169453. dead.
  9. Web site: Judge strikes down GOP-drawn Florida congressional lines. July 10, 2014.
  10. News: Cotterell. Bill. Florida elections face uncertainty as congressional maps redrawn. 5 August 2014. Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 5 August 2014.
  11. News: Leary. Alex. Corrine Brown calls redistricting decision 'seriously flawed'. 5 August 2014. Tampa Bay Times. 10 July 2012.
  12. News: Isenstadt. Alex. CBC, DCCC clash over Fla. redistricting suit. 5 August 2014. POLITICO.com. POLITICO LLC. 4 August 2014.
  13. News: Livingston. Abby. Florida Redistricting Ruling Gets Mixed Reactions From Democrats. 5 August 2014. Rollcall.com. CQ-Roll Call. 11 July 2012.
  14. News: Deslatte. Aaron. Florida Legislature: Don't talk to congressional members, political consultants. 5 August 2014. Orlando Sentinel. 5 August 2014.
  15. News: Siding with redistricting plaintiffs, top court upends political landscape. Dixon. Matt. December 2, 2015. Politico Florida. May 18, 2016.