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State Rep. Ross Spano (R) defeated attorney Kristen Carlson (D) in the general election for Florida's 15th Congressional District on November 6, 2018. Incumbent Rep. Dennis Ross (R) did not seek re-election.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee included Carlson in its Red to Blue program, which provided organization and fundraising support to Democratic candidates in Republican-held districts.
Ross was re-elected in 2016 by a margin of 15 percentage points, and the district backed the Republican presidential nominees in 2012 and 2016 by 5 points and 10 points, respectively.
Election forecasters called this race a Toss-up or Leans Republican.
All 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election in 2018. The Democratic Party gained a net total of 40 seats, winning control of the chamber. This race was identified as a 2018 battleground that might have affected partisan control of the U.S. House in the 116th Congress. Heading into the election, the Republican Party was in the majority holding 235 seats to Democrats' 193 seats, with seven vacant seats. Democrats needed to win 23 GOP-held seats in 2018 to win control of the House. From 1918 to 2016, the president’s party lost an average of 29 seats in midterm elections.
The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kristen Carlson | Democratic Party | $2,108,841 | $2,101,886 | $6,955 | As of December 31, 2018 |
| Ross Spano | Republican Party | $935,844 | $934,199 | $1,645 | As of December 31, 2018 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Florida from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Florida Department of State.
This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Florida every year from 2000 to 2016.
Election results (President of the United States), Florida 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 |  Donald Trump |
49.0% |  Hillary Clinton |
47.8% | 1.2% |
| 2012 | Barack Obama |
50.0% | Mitt Romney |
49.1% | 0.9% |
| 2008 | Barack Obama |
51.0% | John McCain |
48.2% | 2.8% |
| 2004 | George W. Bush |
52.10% | John Kerry |
47.09% | 5.01% |
| 2000 | George W. Bush |
48.847% | Al Gore |
48.838% | 0.009% |
This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Florida from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.
Election results (U.S. Senator), Florida 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Marco Rubio |
52.0% | Patrick Murphy |
44.3% | 7.7% |
| 2012 | Bill Nelson |
55.2% | Connie Mack |
42.2% | 13.0% |
| 2010 | Marco Rubio |
48.9% |  Charlie Crist |
29.7% | 19.2% |
| 2006 | Bill Nelson |
60.3% | Katherine Harris |
38.1% | 22.2% |
| 2004 | Mel Martinez |
49.4% | Betty Castor |
48.3% | 1.1% |
| 2000 | Bill Nelson |
51.0% | Bill McCollum |
46.2% | 4.8% |
This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Florida.
Election results (Governor/Lt. Governor), Florida 2000-2016
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Rick Scott/Carlos Lopez-Cantera |
48.1% | Charlie Crist/Annette Taddeo-Goldstein |
47.1% | 1% |
| 2010 | Rick Scott/Jennifer Carroll |
48.9% | Alex Sink/Rod Smith |
47.7% | 1.2% |
| 2006 | Charlie Crist/Jeff Kottkamp |
52.2% | Jim Davis/Daryl Jones |
45.1% | 7.1% |
| 2002 | Jeb Bush/Frank Brogan |
56.0% | Bill McBride/Tom Rossin |
43.2% | 12.8% |
This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Florida in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.
Congressional delegation, Florida 2000-2016
| Year | Republicans | Republicans (%) | Democrats | Democrats (%) | Balance of power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 17 |
62.9% | 10 |
37.0% | R+7 |
| 2014 | 17 |
62.9% | 10 |
37.0% | R+7 |
| 2012 | 17 |
62.9% | 10 |
37.0% | R+7 |
| 2010 | 19 |
76.0% | 6 |
24.0% | R+13 |
| 2008 | 15 |
60.0% | 10 |
40.0% | R+5 |
| 2006 | 16 |
64.0% | 9 |
36.0% | R+7 |
| 2004 | 18 |
66.7% | 7 |
33.3% | R+11 |
| 2002 | 17 |
66.7% | 8 |
33.3% | R+9 |
| 2000 | 15 |
57.9% | 8 |
42.1% | R+7 |
A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
Florida Party Control: 1992-2019
One year of a Democratic trifecta • 20 years of Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | I | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | S | S | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Demographic data for Florida
| Florida | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 20,244,914 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 53,625 | 3,531,905 |
| Gender | ||
| Female: | 51.1% | 50.8% |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 76% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 16.1% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 2.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.4% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 23.7% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 86.9% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 27.3% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $47,507 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 19.8% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Florida. | ||
As of July 2017, Florida's three largest cities were Jacksonville (pop. est. 860,000), Miami (pop. est. 430,000), and Tampa (pop. est. 360,000).
