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Florida State Senate District 20

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Florida State Senate District 20
Incumbent
Assumed office: November 8, 2022

Florida State Senate District 20 is represented by Jim Boyd (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Florida state senators represented an average of 539,263 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 472,519 residents.

About the office

Members of the Florida State Senate serve four-year terms with term limits. However, in the election following reapportionment, some senators are elected to two-year terms, in order to maintain staggered terms among the senators.[1] Florida legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article III, Section 15 of the Florida Constitution states: "Each legislator shall be at least twenty-one years of age, an elector and resident of the district from which elected and shall have resided in the state for a period of two years prior to election."[2]


Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[3]
SalaryPer diem
$29,697/year$175/day for a maximum of 60 days. Members can also receive per diem outside of the session.

Term limits

See also: State legislatures with term limits

The Florida legislature is one of 16 state legislatures with term limits. Voters enacted the Florida Term Limits Act in 1992. That initiative said that Florida senators are subject to term limits of no more than two four-year terms.

The first year that the term limits enacted in 1992 impacted the ability of incumbents to run for office was in 2000.[4]


Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Florida State Legislature, a special election must be called to fill the vacant seat.[5] The governor is responsible for calling the election and must consult with the secretary of state to set the election dates and nominating deadlines.[6] The person elected to fill the seat serves for the remainder of the unexpired term.[7]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Florida Stat. § 100.101


2016 pivot county

206 Pivot Counties Logo.png
See also: Pivot Counties and Legislative districts intersecting with Pivot Counties

This district was one of 710 state legislative districts that, based on boundaries adopted after the 2010 census, intersected with one or more Pivot Counties. These 206 Pivot Counties voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012.

The 206 Pivot Counties were located in 34 states. Iowa, with 31, had the most such counties. At that time, the partisan makeup of state legislative districts intersecting with Pivot Counties was slightly more Republican than the overall partisan makeup of state legislatures throughout the country.[8]

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Florida after the 2020 census

On March 3, 2022, the Florida Supreme Court approved new legislative maps drawn by the Florida State Legislature. These maps took effect for Florida's 2022 legislative elections.

The maps were passed by the legislature as a joint resolution. The Florida State Senate voted 34-3 to approve the bill on January 20, and the Florida House of Representatives voted 77-39 to approve the bill on February 2.[9] Since the maps were passed as a joint resolution, they did not require the signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to become law. After the legislature approved the maps, they submitted them to Attorney General Ashley B. Moody (R), who then petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to review the maps on February 9.[10][11]

How does redistricting in Florida work? In Florida, both congressional and state legislative district lines are drawn by the state legislature. Congressional lines are adopted as regular legislation and are subject to gubernatorial veto. State legislative lines are passed via joint resolution and are not subject to gubernatorial veto. State legislative district maps are automatically submitted to the Florida Supreme Court for approval. In the event that the court rejects the lines, the legislature is given a second chance to draft a plan. If the legislature cannot approve a state legislative redistricting plan, the state attorney general must ask the state supreme court to draft a plan. There are no similar procedures in place for congressional districts.[12]

The Florida Constitution requires that all districts, whether congressional or state legislative, be contiguous. Also, "where doing so does not conflict with minority rights, [districts] must be compact and utilize existing political and geographical boundaries where feasible." Districts cannot be drawn in such a way as to "favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent."[12][13]

Florida State Senate District 20
until November 7, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Florida State Senate District 20
starting November 8, 2022

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2022

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2022

General election

The general election was canceled. Incumbent Jim Boyd won election in the general election for Florida State Senate District 20.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 20

Incumbent Jim Boyd defeated John Houman in the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 20 on August 23, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jim Boyd
Jim Boyd
 
80.0
 
76,503
Image of John Houman
John Houman Candidate Connection
 
20.0
 
19,168

Total votes: 95,671
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2020

See also: Florida state legislative special elections, 2020

A special election for District 20 of the Florida State Senate was called for November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for August 18, 2020. The filing deadline for candidates running in the election was June 15, 2020.[14]

The seat became vacant after the retirement of Tom Lee (R) on November 3, 2020.

General election

Special general election for Florida State Senate District 20

Daniel Burgess defeated Kathy Lewis in the special general election for Florida State Senate District 20 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Daniel Burgess
Daniel Burgess (R)
 
54.8
 
141,607
Image of Kathy Lewis
Kathy Lewis (D)
 
45.2
 
116,685

Total votes: 258,292
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Kathy Lewis advanced from the special Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 20.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Daniel Burgess advanced from the special Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 20.

2018

General election

General election for Florida State Senate District 20

Incumbent Tom Lee defeated Kathy Lewis in the general election for Florida State Senate District 20 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tom Lee
Tom Lee (R)
 
53.5
 
101,021
Image of Kathy Lewis
Kathy Lewis (D)
 
46.5
 
87,863

Total votes: 188,884
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 20

Kathy Lewis defeated Joy Gibson in the Democratic primary for Florida State Senate District 20 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Kathy Lewis
Kathy Lewis
 
60.3
 
17,362
Joy Gibson
 
39.7
 
11,409

Total votes: 28,771
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 20

Incumbent Tom Lee defeated John Houman in the Republican primary for Florida State Senate District 20 on August 28, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tom Lee
Tom Lee
 
84.9
 
30,397
Image of John Houman
John Houman
 
15.1
 
5,422

Total votes: 35,819
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.

Incumbent Tom Lee ran unopposed in the Florida State Senate District 20 general election.[15][16]

Florida State Senate, District 20 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Tom Lee Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Florida Division of Elections



Incumbent Tom Lee ran unopposed in the Florida State Senate District 20 Republican primary.[17][18]

Florida State Senate, District 20 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Tom Lee Incumbent (unopposed)

2014

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for the Florida State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 26, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 20, 2014. Incumbent Jack Latvala defeated Zahid Roy in the Republican primary and defeated Tony Caso (L) in the general election.[19][20]

Florida State Senate, District 20 General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJack Latvala Incumbent 71.6% 120,277
     Libertarian Tony Caso 28.4% 47,652
Total Votes 167,929
Florida State Senate, District 20 Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJack Latvala Incumbent 87.2% 31,836
Zahid Roy 12.8% 4,672
Total Votes 36,508

2012

See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the Florida State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 14, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 8, 2012. Incumbent Jack Latvala (R) defeated Ashley M. Rhodes-Courter (D) in the general election and Zahid Roy in the Republican primary. Rhodes-Courter was unopposed in the Democratic primary.[21][22][23]

Florida State Senate, District 20, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngJack Latvala Incumbent 57.8% 127,927
     Democratic Ashley M. Rhodes-Courter 42.2% 93,296
Total Votes 221,223
Florida State Senate, District 20 Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngJack Latvala Incumbent 85.7% 33,147
Zahid Roy 14.3% 5,517
Total Votes 38,664

Campaign contributions

From 2012 to 2022, candidates for Florida State Senate District 20 raised a total of $1,879,247. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $144,557 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Florida State Senate District 20
Year Amount Candidates Average
2022 $229,333 2 $114,667
2018 $391,228 4 $97,807
2016 $181,462 1 $181,462
2014 $463,798 3 $154,599
2012 $613,425 3 $204,475
Total $1,879,247 13 $144,557


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Florida Senate Website Archive, "Florida Constitution," accessed December 16, 2013(referenced Article III, Section 15a)
  2. The Florida Senate, "Constitution of the State of Florida," accessed February 10, 2023
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  4. Florida State Legisature, "Florida Constitution," accessed February 11. 2021
  5. Florida Legislature, "2023 Florida Statutes," accessed January 23, 2024 (Statute 100.101(2), Florida Election Code)
  6. Florida Legislature, "2023 Florida Statutes," accessed January 23, 2024 (Statute 100.141 (1) (2), Florida Election Code)
  7. Florida Legislature, "2023 Florida Statutes," accessed January 23, 2024 (Statute 100.111 (1) (a-c), Florida Election Code)
  8. The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
  9. Florida State Senate, "CS/SJR 100: Joint Resolution of Apportionment," accessed March 3, 2022
  10. Florida Politics, "Florida Legislature approves redistricting maps for Senate and House," February 3, 2022
  11. Florida Politics, "Ashley Moody petitions court on legislative maps as congressional redistricting continues to pitter," February 9, 2022
  12. 12.0 12.1 All About Redistricting, "Florida," accessed April 22, 2015
  13. Florida Constitution, "Article III, Sections 20-21," accessed April 22, 2015
  14. Florida Department of State, "Notice of Special Election for the Office of State Senate, District 20," accessed June 5, 2020
  15. Florida Department of State, "Candidate listing for 2016 general election," accessed September 12, 2016
  16. Florida Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 23, 2016
  17. Florida Department of State, "Candidates and Races," accessed July 1, 2016
  18. Florida Division of Elections, "August 30, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed September 22, 2016
  19. Florida Division of Elections, "2014 Florida Election Watch - Multi-County or District Offices," accessed September 3, 2014
  20. Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate Listing for 2014 General Election," accessed June 23, 2014
  21. Florida Division of Elections, "Official 2012 General Election Results," accessed December 6, 2013
  22. Florida Division of Elections, "Candidate list," accessed December 6, 2013
  23. Florida Division of Elections, “2012 Primary results,” accessed December 6, 2013


Current members of the Florida State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Ben Albritton
Majority Leader:Jim Boyd
Senators
District 1
Don Gaetz (R)
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
Tom Leek (R)
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Vacant
District 12
District 13
District 14
Vacant
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
Jim Boyd (R)
District 21
Ed Hooper (R)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Republican Party (26)
Democratic Party (11)
No Party Affiliation (1)
Vacancies (2)