Florida's 13th Congressional District election, 2016

2018 → ← 2014

Florida's 13th Congressional District

General Election Date November 8, 2016

Primary Date August 30, 2016

November 8 Election Winner: Charlie Crist

Incumbent prior to election: David Jolly

Race Ratings Cook Political Report: Lean D Sabato's Crystal Ball: Lean D Rothenberg & Gonzales: Lean D

Florida U.S. House Elections District 1 • District 2 • District 3 • District 4 • District 5 • District 6 • District 7 • District 8 • District 9 • District 10 • District 11 • District 12 • District 13 • District 14 • District 15 • District 16 • District 17 • District 18 • District 19 • District 20 • District 21 • District 22 • District 23 • District 24 • District 25 • District 26 • District 27

2016 U.S. Senate Elections

2016 U.S. House Elections

The 13th Congressional District of Florida held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 8, 2016.

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as a race to watch. It was previously rated as a battleground, but due to court-ordered redistricting, the seat became much more Democratic. Incumbent David Jolly (R) sought re-election in 2016. He initially planned to pursue a U.S. Senate bid, but he dropped out of the race in preparation for incumbent Marco Rubio's entry. Jolly was defeated by former Governor Charlie Crist (D) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Jolly defeated Mark Bircher in the Republican primary on August 30, 2016.

Candidate Filing Deadline	Primary Election	General Election
June 24, 2016	August 30, 2016	November 8, 2016

Primary: A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. Florida utilizes a closed primary process, in which the selection of a party's candidates in an election is limited to registered party members.

For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.

Incumbent: Heading into the election the incumbent was David Jolly (R), who was first elected in a special election on March 11, 2014.

As of the 2010 redistricting cycle, Florida's 13th Congressional District was located in western Florida and contained an area of Pinellas County.

Election results

General election

U.S. House, Florida District 13 General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Charlie Crist	51.9%	184,693
	Republican	David Jolly Incumbent	48.1%	171,149
Total Votes				355,842
Source: Florida Division of Elections

Primary election

U.S. House, Florida District 13 Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Jolly Incumbent	75.1%	41,005
Mark Bircher	24.9%	13,592
Total Votes		54,597
Source: Florida Division of Elections

Candidates

General election candidates:

David Jolly
Charlie Crist a

Primary candidates:

Democratic

Charlie Crist - Former governor of Florida a

Republican

David Jolly - Incumbent a
Mark Bircher

Withdrew:
Eric Lynn (D) - Former adviser to the Secretary of Defense
Paul DeCailly (R)

Race background

Florida's 13th District race is one of the initial races listed on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Red to Blue Program. The program "highlights top Democratic campaigns across the country, and offers them financial, communications, grassroots, and strategic support." The DCCC has not yet endorsed any of the Democratic candidates in the race.

Presidential preference

David Jolly

See also: Republicans and their declared positions on Donald Trump

Jolly has not decided if he will endorse or vote for Donald Trump. On May 2, 2016, when asked if he will vote for Trump in November, Jolly said, “So, I’m gonna tell you something you rarely hear in elected official say, I don’t know. I truly don’t know. Here’s why, if you’re asking me in April my position on Donald Trump in November, I don’t know what Donald Trump is going to be standing for in November. So I’m certainly not going to take a position five or six months out. You know when Donald Trump made his call to ban all Muslims, I went to House floor and called on him to drop out of the race. I have strong reservations about some of Donald Trump’s solutions to some of the security issues we face as a country. Those are real reservations. Now, I will tell you I also have strong disagreements with Secretary Clinton over her view of foreign policy. So, I think like a lot of Americans, we are gonna have to begin to spend the summer studying the candidates and decide who’s best for the future of the country. ... I’m a Republican, and I hope we can find a conservative leader that would alter some of the course where our current president has taken us. Whether Donald Trump is that person, I am no way prepared to make that decision in April.” His campaign later clarified that he will not vote for Clinton.

Redistricting

On July 9, 2015, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the state's congressional district map was unconstitutional. The suit was brought to the court by the League of Women Voters and a coalition of other voter groups. David King, lead attorney for the League of Women Voters, said of the ruling, "This is a complete victory for the people of Florida who passed the Fair District amendment and sought fair representation where the Legislature didn't pick their voters. The Supreme Court accepted every challenge we made and ordered the Legislature to do it over."

As a result of the ruling, eight congressional districts were ordered to be redrawn: FL-05, FL-13, FL-14, FL-21, FL-22, FL-25, FL-26 and FL-27. However, the redrawing of these districts had an effect on most of the state's other congressional districts as well. The court gave the legislature until August 25, 2015, to complete the redrawn map.

The House and Senate could not reach an agreement on a new map in late August. Each chamber presented its own map, but they did not agree on which map to use. As a result, Judge Terry Lewis scheduled a trial in order to pick a map. The trial began on September 24, 2015, and lasted for three days. Following the trial, Judge Lewis recommended a map to the Florida Supreme Court, which had the ultimate decision as to which map to use.

On December 2, 2015, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the map that was recommended by the voters' coalition.

In total, 24 of Florida's 27 congressional districts saw some change with the new map. The most drastic changes were made to the 5th and 10th Congressional Districts. The new 5th and 10th were each composed of less than 40 percent of their old seats. The redrawn map is displayed below.

Endorsements

Charlie Crist

• Former Florida CFO Alex Sink
• St. Petersburg City Councilwoman Darden Rice—"Pinellas County deserves a voice in Washington, but Congress is more interested in obstruction and partisan politics. That’s why I believe Charlie Crist is the best person to get the job done. The values I fight for on the St. Petersburg City Council are the same ones he’ll fight for in Congress, like ensuring fair wages, protecting our environment and investing in smart infrastructure. I look forward to working with Charlie as The People’s Congressman from Pinellas County."
• U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor—"For many years I have had the privilege of working for the people of south St. Petersburg. I am devoted to them and want the best for their future. While I will continue to stand up for my neighbors in south St. Pete, it appears that the St. Petersburg part of congressional district 14 may be shifted to a different district. It is critical that the next representative be dedicated to fighting for jobs, higher wages, affordable health care, good schools and more for south St. Petersburg."

Eric Lynn

• St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman

Polls

Florida's 13th District - David Jolly vs. Charlie Crist
Poll	David Jolly	Charlie Crist	Margin of Error	Sample Size
University of North Florida October 9-11, 2016	36%	54%	+/-4.0	590
Anzalone Liszt Grove/DCCC October 2-4, 2016	39%	50%	+/-4.9	400
Data Targeting (R) September 8-10, 2016	46%	46%	+/-5.7	300
Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org

Media

Charlie Crist

Support

" May Not Know" - Crist campaign ad, released October 2016

Opposition

"Thirty Years" - People for Pinellas ad opposing Crist, released September 2016

David Jolly

Opposition

"One Word" - House Majority PAC ad opposing Jolly, released September 2016

"Cost" - House Majority PAC ad opposing Jolly, released October 2016

District history

2014

See also: Florida's 13th Congressional District elections, 2014

The 13th Congressional District of Florida held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Incumbent David Jolly (R) defeated Lucas Overby (L) in the general election.

U.S. House, Florida District 13 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Jolly Incumbent	75.2%	168,172
	Libertarian	Lucas Overby	24.7%	55,318
	Write-in	Michael Stephen Levinson	0%	86
Total Votes				223,576
Source: Florida Division of Elections

Special election

See also: Florida's 13th Congressional District special election, 2014

The 13th Congressional District of Florida held a special election for the U.S. House in 2014.

David Jolly defeated Alex Sink (D), Lucas Overby (L) and write-in candidate Michael Levinson in the special general election on March 11, 2014.

U.S. House, Florida District 13 General Special Election, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	David Jolly	48.5%	88,294
	Democratic	Alex Sink	46.6%	84,877
	Libertarian	Lucas Overby	4.8%	8,799
Total Votes				181,970
Source: Unoffocial Results via Associated Press

2012

See also: Florida's 13th Congressional District elections, 2012

The 13th District of Florida held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 2012. The incumbent from the 10th District, C.W. Bill Young won the election in the district.

U.S. House, Florida District 13 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	C.W. Bill Young Incumbent	57.6%	189,605
	Democratic	Jessica Ehrlich	42.4%	139,742
Total Votes				329,347
Source: Florida Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Important dates and deadlines

See also: Florida elections, 2016

The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Florida in 2016.

Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
Deadline	Event type	Event description
January 11, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
February 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
March 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
March 15, 2016	Election date	Presidential primary election
April 4, 2016	Ballot access	Deadline for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates qualifying by petition to submit completed petitions to supervisors of elections
April 11, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
May 2, 2016	Ballot access	Qualifying period for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates begins
May 6, 2016	Ballot access	Qualifying period for judicial, state attorney and public defender candidates ends
May 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
May 23, 2016	Ballot access	Deadline for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates qualifying by petition to submit completed petitions to supervisors of elections
June 10, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
June 20, 2016	Ballot access	Qualifying period for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates begins
June 24, 2016	Ballot access	Qualifying period for federal, state representative, state senate, county office and special district candidates ends
July 1, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
July 15, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
July 29, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Termination report due, if applicable
August 5, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 12, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 19, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 26, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
August 30, 2016	Election date	Primary election
September 9, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
September 22, 2016	Campaign finance	Termination report due, if applicable
September 23, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 7, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 14, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 21, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
October 28, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
November 4, 2016	Campaign finance	Campaign finance report due
November 8, 2016	Election date	General election
November 28, 2016	Campaign finance	Termination report due, if applicable
February 6, 2017	Campaign finance	Termination report due, if applicable
Sources: Florida Division of Elections, "2015-2017 Election Dates Calendar," June 4, 2015 Florida Division of Elections, "Calendar of Reporting Dates for 2016 Candidates Registered with the Division of Elections," accessed January 11, 2016

See also

• United States House of Representatives elections in Florida, 2016
• United States House of Representatives elections, 2016

Footnotes

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Florida's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ashley Moody (R)

Rick Scott (R)

Representatives

District 1

Jimmy Patronis (R)

District 2

Neal Dunn (R)

District 3

Kat Cammack (R)

District 4

Aaron Bean (R)

District 5

John Rutherford (R)

District 6

Randy Fine (R)

District 7

Cory Mills (R)

District 8

Mike Haridopolos (R)

District 9

Darren Soto (D)

District 10

Maxwell Frost (D)

District 11

Daniel Webster (R)

District 12

Gus Bilirakis (R)

District 13

Anna Luna (R)

District 14

Kathy Castor (D)

District 15

Laurel Lee (R)

District 16

Vern Buchanan (R)

District 17

Greg Steube (R)

District 18

Scott Franklin (R)

District 19

Byron Donalds (R)

District 20

Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D)

District 21

Brian Mast (R)

District 22

Lois Frankel (D)

District 23

Jared Moskowitz (D)

District 24

Frederica Wilson (D)

District 25

Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D)

District 26

Mario Diaz-Balart (R)

District 27

Maria Elvira Salazar (R)

District 28

Carlos Gimenez (R)

Republican Party (22)

Democratic Party (8)