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. 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.

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. Connecting these areas were regions which are sparsely populated—either expansive rural areas or narrow strips which are only a few miles wide. 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. On August 1, Judge Lewis gave Florida's state legislature an Aug. 15 deadline to submit new congressional maps for those two districts.

5th district Representative Corrine Brown issued a statement blasting Lewis's decision on the district map as "seriously flawed", 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.

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." 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.

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. 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:

Recent election results from statewide races Year Office Results2008 PresidentMcCain 61% - 38%2010 SenateRubio 63% - 15% GovernorScott 62% - 38% Attorney GeneralBondi 65% - 28% Chief Financial OfficerAtwater 66% - 27%2012 PresidentRomney 64% - 36% SenateMack IV 57% - 43%2014 GovernorScott 67% - 33%2016 PresidentTrump 58% - 37% SenateRubio 66% - 30%2018 SenateScott 60% - 40% GovernorDeSantis 58% - 41% Attorney GeneralMoody 62% - 37% Chief Financial OfficerPatronis 62% - 38%2020 PresidentTrump 57% - 41%2022 SenateRubio 64% - 35% GovernorDeSantis 65% - 34% Attorney GeneralMoody 67% - 33% Chief Financial OfficerPatronis 66% - 34%2024 PresidentTrump 60% - 39% SenateScott 60% - 38%

Composition For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:

Duval County (4)

Atlantic Beach, Jacksonville (part; also 4th), Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach

St. Johns County (9)

Fruit Cove, Nocatee, Palm Valley, Sawgrass, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Beach, St. Augustine South (part; also 6th), Vilano Beach, World Golf Village

List of members representing the district

Member Party Years Congress Electoral history District location District created January 3, 1937 Joe Hendricks Democratic January 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 Democratic January 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 Edward Gurney Republican January 3, 1967 –January 3, 1969 Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1966.Retired. Lou Frey Republican January 3, 1969 –January 3, 1973 Elected in 1968.Re-elected in 1970.Redistricted to the . Bill Gunter Democratic January 3, 1973 –January 3, 1975 Elected in 1972.Retired to run for U.S. senator. 1973–1983 Richard Kelly Republican 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 Republican January 3, 1981 –January 3, 1993 Elected in 1980.Re-elected in 1982.Re-elected in 1984.Re-elected in 1986.Re-elected in 1988.Re-elected in 1990.Redistricted to the . 1983–1993 Karen Thurman Democratic 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 Ginny Brown-Waite Republican 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 Rich Nugent Republican January 3, 2011 –January 3, 2013 Elected in 2010.Redistricted to the . Corrine Brown Democratic 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 Al Lawson Democratic 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 John Rutherford Republican January 3, 2023 –present Redistricted from the and re-elected in 2022.Re-elected in 2024. 2023–present:Most of Jacksonville, along with parts of that city's southern and eastern suburbs and the city of St. Augustine

Election results 2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Notes

References

Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present