Florida's 13th congressional district

Characteristics

2015 court-ordered redistricting

In July 2015 the Florida Supreme Court overturned the boundaries of the state's congressional districts, ruling that "the maps were the product of an unconstitutional political gerrymandering". It expressed its distrust of lawmakers and "provided detailed instructions on how to repair the flawed map in time for the 2016 election."

With the future of the boundaries of the district undetermined, the Republican Party may abandon it. This was where (under slightly different boundaries) William C. Cramer was elected to Congress, and he helped build the Republican Party in Florida and the South. He held office from 1954 to 1970. Republican C.W. Bill Young essentially represented the district from 1971 to his death in 2013. But demographics have continued to change, and more recently it has been a swing district. Several Democrats may be interested in running for the seat.

2022 DeSantis redistricting

Despite the July 2015 Florida Supreme Court ruling overturning a blatantly redistricted congressional map, in which the 2012 legislature redrew Tampa's 14th District to include portions of the City of Saint Petersburg and black populations in southern Pinellas County, Governor DeSantis' administration redrew Pinellas County's 13th District to be exclusive of these known Democratic areas. Under the Fair Districts constitutional amendments that Florida voters approved in 2010, legislators are forbidden to draw districts that intentionally favor or disfavor incumbents or parties. In September 2023 Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh determined the redistricting plan pushed by Ron DeSantis violated the state constitution and is prohibited from being used for any future U.S. congressional elections. Despite the ruling, the recent ruling by the Florida Supreme Court allowed the districts to stand and thus overruled the circut court ruling. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/17/florida-supreme-court-congressional-map

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:

Pinellas County (37) : Bardmoor, Bay Pines, Bear Creek, Belleair, Belleair Beach, Belleair Bluffs, Belleair Shore, Clearwater, Dunedin, East Lake, Feather Sound (part; also 14th), Greenbriar, Gulfport, Harbor Bluffs, Indian Rocks Beach, Indian Shores, Kenneth City, Largo, Lealman (part; also 14th), Madeira Beach, North Redington Beach, Oldsmar, Palm Harbor, Pinellas Park, Redington Beach, Redington Shores, Ridgecrest, Safety Harbor, St. Pete Beach, St. Petersburg (part; also 14th), Seminole, South Highpoint, South Pasadena, Tarpon Springs, Tierra Verde, Treasure Island, West Lealman

List of members representing the district

Recent election results from statewide races

Election results

2002

2004

2006

Election officials certified Buchanan as the winner of the race over Jennings by 369 votes. Buchanan was declared the winner after a mandatory recount and analysis of alleged voting machine errors in the race. The primary controversy in this race was that over 18,000 ballots (or roughly one in six) cast in Sarasota County apparently did not register a vote for this race, far higher than in the two previous elections involving Jan Schneider, but lower than the undervote in 2000. Sarasota County voted for Jennings by a six-point margin. Jennings refused to concede the race and pursued administrative and legal challenges to the result, including an appeal for an investigation of the election with the House Administration Committee. Preliminary results from an investigation by Congress's Government Accountability Office concluded that there was no evidence that the voting machines caused the high undervote, but that inadequate testing made it impossible to prove their complete reliability. Sarasota County has since moved to optical scanned paper ballots as a result of a 2006 referendum vote.

According to a statistical study published in 2008, the missing votes were caused by the ballot screen layout. The authors' best estimate on what the result would have been, had this problem not occurred, gave victory to Jennings at a 99.9% confidence level, and a mean margin of victory for her of 639 votes.

2008

2010

2012

2014 (special)

The district's seat was vacated following the death of Bill Young. A special election was held on March 11, 2014 to replace him. The election was won by Republican David Jolly with 48.52% of the vote over one-time gubernatorial candidate Democrat Alex Sink's 46.64% and Libertarian candidate Lucas Overby's 4.84%.

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

References

1. "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)". Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment.
2. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". [[United States Census Bureau.
3. "My Congressional District".
4. (April 3, 2025). "2025 Cook PVI℠: District Map and List (119th Congress)".
5. [https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/florida-supreme-court-orders-new-congressional-map-with-eight-districts-to/2236734/ Mary Ellen Klass, "Florida Supreme Court orders new congressional map with eight districts to be redrawn"], ''Tampa Bay Times,'' July 9, 2015, February 11, 2016
6. "Supreme Court of Florida: The League of Women Voters of Florida vs. Ken Detzner".
7. (September 2, 2023). "DeSantis Florida redistricting map is unconstitutional and must be redrawn, judge says". NPR.
8. https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST12/CD118_FL13.pdf {{Bare URL PDF. (June 2025)
9. "Dra 2020".
10. [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wtQTeVLWL2A4lE0H7KKtXHLdA1qzyQivGcDVaECknGY/edit?gid=209718329#gid=209718329 The Downballot: Florida 2024 pres-by-CD]
11. [http://www.cqpolitics.com/2006/12/the_cqpolitics_interview_chris_1.html The CQPolitics Interview: Christine Jennings] {{Webarchive. link. (December 7, 2006 (December 6, 2006))
12. [http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0897t.pdf GAO Report] (October 2, 2007)
13. [[Arlene Ash]] and John Lamperti. (October 2025). "Florida 2006: Can Statistics Tell Us Who Won Congressional District-13?". [[Springer Science+Business Media.
14. "Pinellas - Election Results".
15. "2014 Florida House Results".
16. Juliet Eilperin. (October 18, 2013). "C. W. "Bill" Young, longest-serving Republican in the House, dies at 82". The Washington Post.
17. "November 4, 2014 General Election Official Results". Florida Department of State Division of Elections.
18. "Pinellas - Election Results".
19. "Florida's 13th Congressional District election, 2018". Ballotpedia.