The 2000 congressional elections in Florida were held on November 7, 2000, to determine who would represent the state of Florida in the United States House of Representatives. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected served in the 107th Congress from January 3, 2001, until January 3, 2003. The election coincided with the 2000 United States presidential election.
At the time, Florida had twenty-three seats in the House, apportioned according to the 1990 United States Census. Its delegation to the 106th Congress of 1999-2001 consisted of fifteen Republicans and eight Democrats. No seats switched parties in 2000, though the incumbents in Districts 4, 8, and 12 retired. Thus, Florida's delegation to the 107th Congress consisted of fifteen Republicans and eight Democrats. The election for 8th and 22nd districts were competitive, with both decided by a margin of less than 2%. The latter district, which was based in the Miami area, underwent a recount in the midst of a controversial recount of votes for the presidential election.
The Primary election was held September 5, 2000, while the General election was held November 7, 2000. Florida did not have early voting until 2004, in response to the presidential election in 2000.
Overview
The table below shows the total number and percentage of votes, as well as the number of seats gained and lost by each political party in the election for the United States House of Representatives in Florida. All vote totals come from the Florida Secretary of State's website along with the individual counties' election department websites.
Districts
District 1
Republican Joe Scarborough was first elected in 1994 and decided to seek a fourth term in 2000. During the primary, Scarborough was challenged by Pensacola attorney David Condon. As expected, Scarborough prevailed over Condon, winning by a margin of 77.4%-22.6%. This was the only seat tantamount to the election in Florida, because the winner of the Republican primary would face no Democratic opposition. In the general election on November 7, 2000, Scarborough received only token opposition from four write-in candidates - Dave Blue, Mark Coutu, Fred Hoole, and Dudley Wiley. Scraborough won the election with 99.5% of the vote. Primary election results
General election results
District 2
Incumbent Allen Boyd, who had been in office since 1997, sought a third term during this election cycle. He faced no challenges for the Democratic nomination. Likewise, Republican Doug Dodd received no opposition in his respective primary. Thomas A. Frederick also entered the race as a write-in candidate. Boyd prevailed in this then-left leaning district, winning with 72.1% of the vote. General election results
District 3
As in District 2, neither incumbent Corrine Brown (D) or Jennifer Carroll (R) faced opposition in their respective primaries. Write-in candidate Carl Sumner also entered the race. On election day, Brown defeated future-Lieutenant Governor Carroll and Sumner by comfortable margin, receiving 57.6% of the vote in this left-leaning district. General election results
District 4
Incumbent Tillie K. Fowler (R) declined to run for re-election in 2000, leaving an open seat. The two candidates in the Republican primary were CEO and President of America’s Choice Title Company Dan Quiggle and Ander Crenshaw, President of the Florida Senate and son-in law of former Governor of Claude R. Kirk, Jr. Crenshaw easily defeated Quiggle and received over two-thirds of the votes. Former Jacksonville mayor Tommy Hazouri, Jacksonville City County President Eric Smith, and former State Representative Mike Langton considered running for the Democratic nomination, but all declined, leaving only Jacksonville lawyer Kevin Sanders and businessman Tom Sullivan. On the day of the primary, Sullivan won, garnering about 62.2% of the vote. In addition, independent Deborah K. Pueschel and write-in candidate Vince W. Ray entered the race. Republican Crenshaw soundly defeated Sullivan, Pueschel, and Ray on election day. Primary election results