2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida


The 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, to elect the 27 U.S. representatives from the state of Florida, one from each of the state's 27 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including President of the United States.
A lawsuit challenging the districts under Florida's Congressional District Boundaries Amendment was filed in 2012 and was resolved in 2015. The results of the lawsuit had major repercussions on the congressional races in Florida in 2016. The primaries were held on August 30.

Redistricting lawsuit

In 2014, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis threw out the congressional map for violating Florida's 2010 Amendment 6 to the state Constitution, commonly called the Fair Districts Amendment. The ruling specifically applied to and. Subsequent rulings by higher courts and concluding in the Supreme Court of Florida also struck down,, and, which also necessitated redraws of varying scale to the districts surrounding them.

Results summary

Statewide

District

Results of the 2016 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida by district:

District 1

Republican Jeff Miller had represented the district since being elected in 2001. He considered running for the U.S. Senate. On July 30, 2015, Miller decided not to run for the open Senate seat and announced he would run for reelection. In March 2016, Miller announced he would not run for reelection.

Republican primary

State Senator Greg Evers had expressed his interest in running for this seat if Miller had run for the Senate.

Candidates

Nominee
  • Matt Gaetz, state representative
    Eliminated in primary
  • Rebekah Johansen Bydlak, activist
  • Cris Dosev, retired U.S. Marine officer and real estate developer
  • Greg Evers, state senator
  • Brian Frazier, retired U.S. Navy officer
  • Rich Gazlay, businessman
  • Mark Wichern, business consultant
  • James Zumwalt, retired U.S. Navy officer and grandson of Elmo Zumwalt
    Withdrawn
  • Gary Fairchild
  • John Mills, retired U.S. Navy pilot
    Declined
  • Jeff Miller, incumbent U.S. Representative

    Endorsements

Polling

Results

In the August 30 primary, Matt Gaetz defeated his six rivals for the nomination.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

Predictions

Results

District 2

Redistricting significantly altered the 2nd, mainly by shifting most of Tallahassee's African American residents to the 5th District. On paper, this made the 2nd heavily Republican. Democrat Gwen Graham represented the district for one term after being elected in 2014, when she beat Republican incumbent Steve Southerland. She did not run for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Walter Dartland, former deputy attorney general
    Eliminated in primary
  • Steve Crapps, tree farmer
    Declined
  • Gwen Graham, incumbent U.S. Representative
  • Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, state representative

    Results

The primary results were too close to call as of September 1, 2016.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Debates

Results

Dunn won the primary on August 30, 2016.

Libertarian primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Rob Lapham, retired IT executive

    General election

Predictions

Results

District 3

Republican Ted Yoho had represented the district since being elected in 2012, and ran unopposed. Businessman Ken McGurn also ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • Ted Yoho, incumbent U.S. Representative

    Democratic primary

Nominee

  • Ed Emery, retired federal probation officer

    General election

Predictions

Results

District 4

Republican Ander Crenshaw had represented the district since being elected in 2000. On April 14, 2016, he announced that he would not run for re-election.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee
  • John Rutherford, former sheriff of Jacksonville
    Eliminated in primary
  • Stephen Kaufman, public relations manager
  • Ed Malin
  • Bill McClure, St. John's County commissioner
  • Deborah Katz Pueschel, perennial candidate
  • Lake Ray, state representative
  • Hans Tanzler III, former US assistant attorney, attorney, farmer, and son of former Jacksonville mayor Hans Tanzler
    Declined
  • Aaron Bean, State Senator
  • Richard Clark, former Jacksonville City councilmember
  • Michael Corrigan, Jacksonville Tax Collector
  • Ander Crenshaw, incumbent U.S. Representative
  • Lenny Curry, Mayor of Jacksonville
  • Jay Fant, State Representative
  • Jerry Holland, Duval County Property Appraiser
  • Mike Holland, Jacksonville Supervisor of Elections

    Polling

Results

won the primary on August 30, 2016.

Democratic primary

Former Jacksonville City Councilman and former state representative Eric Smith announced that he would run for the Democratic nomination. On June 22, 2016, Smith announced that he was withdrawing from the race, leaving no Democratic candidates two days before the close of filing.
Dave Bruderly, an environmental engineer who was the nominee for Florida's 6th congressional district in 2004 and 2006, qualified on the last day of filing, and thus was nominated unopposed.

Candidates

Nominee
  • Dave Bruderly, environmental engineer and nominee for Florida's 6th congressional district in 2004 & 2006
    Withdrawn
  • Eric B. Smith, former state representative

    General election

Predictions

Results

District 5

Democrat Corrine Brown had represented the district and its various permutations since 1993. The court-ordered redistricting significantly altered her district. She had previously represented a district stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando. The new map pushed the 5th well to the north and west, and made it a more compact district stretching from Tallahassee to Jacksonville.

Democratic primary

In July 2016, Brown and her chief of staff were indicted on charges of fraud.

Candidates

Nominee

Polling

Results

In the Democratic primary—the real contest in this district—she was defeated by former state senator Al Lawson of Tallahassee.

Republican primary

2014 Republican nominee Glo Smith and 2014 Republican candidate Thuy Lowe initially both ran again. Lowe later switched from this district to a campaign for the 10th district. Hence Scurry-Smith ran unopposed on primary day, August 30, 2016.

Candidates

Nominee
  • Gloreatha Scurry-Smith, businesswoman, former staff aide to Jennifer Carroll and nominee for this seat in 2014
    Withdrawn
  • Thuy Lowe, candidate for this seat in 2014

    General election

Predictions

Results

District 6

Republican Ron DeSantis had represented the district since being elected in 2012. DeSantis ran for the U.S. Senate, initially creating an open seat, although on June 22, 2016, he withdrew from the Senate race to run for re-election to the House.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

General election

Predictions