Florida's 1st congressional district

Florida's 1st congressional district
Representative	Jeff Miller R–Chumuckla
Area	5,241 sq mi (13,570 km2)
Distribution	77.5% urban 22.5% rural
Population (2000)	639,295
Median household income	36,738
Ethnicity	78.0% White 14.0% Black 3.0% Hispanic 1.9% Asian 0.9% Native American 0.2% other
Cook PVI	R+21

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, Holmes, and Santa Rosa counties and portions of Okaloosa and Walton counties. The district is anchored in Pensacola and also includes Fort Walton Beach and stretches along the Redneck Riviera. The district, as ranked by the Cook Partisan Voting Index, is the most Republican district in Florida and the 15th in the United States.

The district is currently represented by Republican Jeff Miller, who was first elected in a special election following the resignation of Joe Scarborough.

The district from 2003 to 2013

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.

The territory now in the 1st District was originally part of the 3rd Congressional 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 continued to usually elect conservative Democrats at the state and local level until the Republican Revolution of 1994, when Joe Scarborough was elected. This change was more a result of eight-term conservative Democrat Earl Hutto retiring than of a Republican upsurge; for some time, it had been taken for granted that Hutto would be succeeded by a Republican once he retired. Since then, the district has become arguably the most Republican district in Florida, with Republicans dominating every level of government. John McCain received 67% of the vote in this district in 2008.

The area comprising the 1st Congressional 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 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%

Voter registration

Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of January 3, 2012
Party		Voters	Percentage	Republican	230,628	49.86%	Democratic	148,208	32.04%	No Party Affiliation	71,779	15.52%

List of representatives

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2010 § District 1

Representative	Party	Years	Congress	Note
District created		March 4, 1875
William J. Purman	Republican	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1877	44th
Robert H. M. Davidson	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1891	45th 46th 47th 48th 49th 50th 51st
Stephen R. Mallory	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1895	52nd 53rd
Stephen M. Sparkman	Democratic	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1917	54th 55th 56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd 63rd 64th
Herbert J. Drane	Democratic	March 4, 1917 – March 3, 1933	65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd
J. Hardin Peterson	Democratic	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1951	73rd 74th 75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st
Chester B. McMullen	Democratic	January 3, 1951 – January 3, 1953	82nd
Courtney W. Campbell	Democratic	January 3, 1953 – January 3, 1955	83rd
William C. Cramer	Republican	January 3, 1955 – January 3, 1963	84th 85th 86th 87th	Redistricted to the 12th district
Robert L. F. Sikes	Democratic	January 3, 1963 – January 3, 1979	88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th 95th	Redistricted from the 3rd district; Not a candidate for reelection in 1978
Earl Dewitt Hutto	Democratic	January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1995	96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd	Not a candidate for reelection in 1994
Joe Scarborough	Republican	January 3, 1995 – September 5, 2001	104th 105th 106th 107th	Resigned
Vacant		September 5, 2001 – October 16, 2001	107th
Jeff Miller	Republican	October 16, 2001 – present	107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	Elected in a special election; Incumbent

Election Results

2002

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2002)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller*	152,635	74.59
	Democratic	Bert Oram	51,972	25.40
	No party	Others	19	0.01
Total votes			204,626	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2004

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2004)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller*	236,604	76.54
	Democratic	Mark S. Coutu	72,506	23.46
Total votes			309,110	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2006

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2006)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller*	135,786	68.54
	No party	Joe Roberts	62,340	31.47
Total votes			198,126	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2008

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2008)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller*	232,559	70.18
	Democratic	James E. Bryan	98,797	29.82
Total votes			331,356	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2010

Florida's 1st Congressional District Election (2010)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jeff Miller*	170,821	80.00
	Independent	Joe Cantrell	23,250	10.89
	Independent	John E. Krause	18,253	8.55
	No party	Others	1,202	0.56
Total votes			213,526	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present