2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida

The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014 to elect the 27 U.S. representatives from the state of Florida, one from each of the state's 27 congressional districts. The elections coincided with the elections of other federal and state offices, including Governor of Florida. There was no net party change, as Democrat Gwen Graham defeated Republican incumbent Steve Southerland in the 2nd district, while Republican Carlos Curbelo defeated Democratic incumbent Joe Garcia in the 26th district.

District
Results of the 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida by district:

District 1
Incumbent Republican Jeff Miller, who had represented the district since 2001, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Jeff Miller, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * John Krause

Withdrawn

 * Travis Pierce Miller

Nominee

 * Jim Bryan, retired Army officer and nominee for this seat in 2010

District 2
Incumbent Republican Steve Southerland, who had represented the district since 2011, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Steve Southerland, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Gwen Graham, Leon County school administrator and the daughter of Bob Graham, former United States Senator and Governor of Florida

Results
Graham won the race by a narrow 1.2% margin, making Southerland one of only two sitting Republicans to be defeated by a Democrat in 2014 (the other being Lee Terry in Nebraska's 2nd).

District 3
Incumbent Republican Ted Yoho, who had represented the district since 2013, after defeating Republican incumbent Cliff Stearns in the primary, ran for re-election.

Campaign
Jake Rush, an attorney and former Alachua County Sheriff's deputy, challenged Yoho in the Republican primary. Following the launch of his campaign, he received national media attention related to his involvement with live action role-playing (particularly the supernaturally themed Mind's Eye Theatre) and costuming.

Nominee

 * Ted Yoho, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Jake Rush, attorney and former Alachua County Sheriff's deputy

Nominee

 * Marihelen Wheeler, middle school art teacher

Withdrawn

 * Aquasia Johnson McDowell

District 4
Incumbent Republican Ander Crenshaw, who had represented the district since 2001, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Ander Crenshaw, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Ryman Shoaf, US Navy veteran

Democratic primary
The Democratic Party did not run a candidate in this race.

District 5
Incumbent Democrat Corrine Brown, who had represented the district since 2013, having previously represented the 3rd district from 1993 to 2013, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Corrine Brown, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Glo Smith, businesswoman and former staff aide to Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll

Eliminated in primary

 * Thuy Lowe

District 6
Incumbent Republican Ron DeSantis, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Ron DeSantis, incumbent U.S. Representative and Iraq war veteran

Nominee

 * David Cox, director of resources at Bethune-Cookman University

Withdrawn

 * Andrew Scott

District 7
The 7th District, includes most of Seminole County, the main campus of the University of Central Florida in Orange County, and parts of Deltona in Volusia County. Incumbent Republican John Mica, who had represented the district since 1993, ran for re-election. In 2012, when Mica ran for re-election in the redrawn district, he won with 59% of the vote, his smallest margin of victory in twenty years.

Republican primary
Polling taken during the 2013 government shutdown showed that Mica was vulnerable to an opponent, with only 33% of the district's voters indicating that they approved of his performance, while 50% disapproved. The early predictions proved to be unfounded, and Mica's popularity rebounded considerably over the summer of 2014. Mica was a heavy favourite to win the GOP primary, and on August 26, trounced his GOP challengers with over 72% of the vote.

Nominee

 * John Mica, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Don Oehlrich
 * Kelly Shirley, pharmacist
 * David Smith, business executive

Withdrawn

 * Alan Azcona
 * Zechariah Blanchard

Nominee

 * Wes Neuman, former White House intern and LMI analyst

Campaign
On September 25, 2014, after over a month of keeping a low profile, Democratic challenger Wes Neuman announced he "made a mistake" in challenging Mica and would no longer be actively campaigning.

Al Krulick appeared on the ballot with no party affiliation.

District 8
Incumbent Republican Bill Posey, who had represented the district since 2013, having represented the 15th district from 2009 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Bill Posey, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Gabriel Rothblatt, technoprogressive political activist

Withdrawn

 * Corry Westbrook, former legislative director for the National Wildlife Federation

Campaign
Rothblatt's belief in transhumanism and his family ties were both regularly covered by the media. Jessica Roy, from Time, commented that his status as a member of Terasem might be just as difficult for his campaign as being a Democrat in the Republican majority district.

During a campaign event, gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist introduced him by saying, "Gabriel is the messenger that God sent."

Others were critical of Rothblatt's campaign. Katie Prill, from the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote that "his radical ideas are too extreme for Florida families." Posey's spokesman, George Cecala, stated, "It all comes down to the real issue, and that is Bill Posey is a conservative and Gabriel Rothblatt is a liberal.

District 9
Incumbent Democrat Alan Grayson, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 8th district from 2009 to 2011, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Democratic primary
Grayson was challenged in the primary by Democrat Nick Ruiz, a professor from the University of Florida. In 2012, Ruiz ran for the Democratic nomination in the 7th District. Ruiz made a somewhat surprising move to FL-09 for 2014.

Nominee

 * Alan Grayson, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Nick Ruiz, professor from the University of Florida and candidate for the 7th District in 2012

Nominee

 * Carol Platt, Osceola County Realtors Association

Eliminated in primary

 * Jorge Bonilla, Navy veteran
 * Peter Vivaldi, businessman

Endorsements
Platt received endorsements from both Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.

District 10
Incumbent Republican Daniel Webster, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 8th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Daniel Webster, incumbent U.S. Representative

Withdrawn

 * David Allen Seeley

Democratic primary
Val Demings, who was the Democratic nominee in 2012, considered a second run against Webster, but chose to run for mayor of Orange County, Florida, instead. Ultimately, she pulled out of that race as well.

Nominee

 * Mike McKenna, former Navy Chief Petty Officer and Walt Disney World security officer

Eliminated in primary

 * William Ferree, former Eustis City Commissioner
 * Shayan Modarres, civil rights lawyer and Trayvon Martin family attorney

Declined

 * Val Demings, former Chief of the Orlando Police Department and nominee for this seat in 2012

Results
Despite only spending $5,000 on his primary campaign, a fraction of the spending of his two opponents, McKenna won the primary and faced Webster in the general election.

Campaign
Webster was a decided favourite for the general election and he ran only a few television ads. With very little money in his campaign funds, McKenna ran no ads, instead counting on a grass-roots, "door-to-door" campaign.

Results
Webster easily cruised to re-election by a margin of 62% to 38%.

District 11
Incumbent Republican Rich Nugent, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 5th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Rich Nugent, incumbent U.S. Representative

Withdrawn

 * Michael Uminski

Nominee

 * Dave Koller, small businessowner

Withdrawn

 * Matthew Schnackenberg

District 12
Incumbent Republican Gus Bilirakis, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election.. He previously represented the 9th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Gus Bilirakis, incumbent U.S. Representative

Withdrawn

 * James Denton Jr.

Democratic primary
No democrat filed to run

General election
No candidates filed to challenge Bilirakis for his seat, so he returned to office without standing for election.

District 13
Incumbent Republican David Jolly, who had represented the district since a 2014 special election, ran for re-election.

Republican primary
On October 9, 2013, Republican Bill Young, who had held this Tampa Bay-area district since 1971, announced that he would not run for re-election to a twenty-second term in 2014. He died nine days later, and a special election was held, which Republican David Jolly won. Jolly ran for a full term.

Nominee

 * David Jolly, incumbent U.S. Representative

Candidates
No Democratic candidate filed to run for Congress before the end of the qualifying period.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would support Independent candidate Ed Jany. Jany dropped out of the race on May 13, 2014.

Withdrawn

 * Manuel Sykes, president of the St. Petersburg NAACP

Declined

 * Charlie Crist, former Republican governor of Florida and Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010 (running for governor)
 * Jessica Ehrlich, attorney and nominee for this seat in 2012
 * Charlie Justice, Pinellas County Commissioner and nominee for in 10th district in 2010
 * Rick Kriseman, former state representative and Mayor of St. Petersburg
 * Eric Lynn, senior White House Middle East policy adviser and former aide to Congressman Peter Deutsch
 * Darryl Rouson, state representative
 * Alex Sink, former chief financial officer of Florida, nominee for governor in 2010 and nominee for this seat 2014 (special)
 * Ken Welch, Pinellas County Commissioner
 * Peter Rudy Wallace, former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives

Nominee

 * Lucas Overby, activist, commercial diver, and nominee for this seat in the 2014 (special)

Withdrawn

 * Ed Jany, retired Army colonel

District 14
Incumbent Democrat Kathy Castor, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. She previously represented the 11th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Kathy Castor, incumbent U.S. Representative

Republican primary
No Republicans filed to run.

Withdrawn

 * John Coney

General election
No candidates filed to challenge Castor for her seat, so she returned to office without standing for election.

District 15
Incumbent Republican Dennis Ross, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 12th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Dennis Ross, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Alan Cohn, former investigative reporter

District 16
Incumbent Republican Vern Buchanan, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 16th district from 2009 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Vern Buchanan, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Henry Lawrence, former NFL offensive lineman

Withdrawn

 * Mitch Mallett, former vice chair of the Manatee county Democratic party

General election
101-year-old Joe Newman ran as a write-in candidate.

District 17
Incumbent Republican Tom Rooney, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 13th district from 2007 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Tom Rooney, incumbent U.S. Representative

Withdrawn

 * Erin Magee
 * John Sawyer

Nominee

 * Will Bronson

District 18
Incumbent Democrat Patrick Murphy, who had represented Florida's 18th congressional district since 2013 after defeating Republican Allen West, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Patrick Murphy, incumbent U.S. Representative

Republican primary
Juno Beach Councilwoman Ellen Andel, who had declared her candidacy in May 2013, withdrew from the race in February 2014. Despite West's endorsement, she posted poor fundraising numbers and began 2014 with only $5,537 cash-on-hand, to Murphy's $1.8 million.

Nominee

 * Carl J. Domino, former state representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Beverly Hires, nurse
 * Brian Lara, computer software developer
 * Alan Schlesinger, former mayor of Derby, Connecticut, former Connecticut State Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate from Connecticut in 2006
 * Calvin Turnquest, former Tequesta Council member
 * Nick Wukoson, small business owner

Withdrawn

 * Ellen Andel, Juno Beach Council member
 * Frank Lynch

Declined

 * Gayle Harrell, state representative and candidate for 16th district in 2008
 * Adam Hasner, former Majority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives and nominee for the 22nd district in 2012
 * Ilya Katz, author
 * Allen West, former U.S. Representative

Polling

 * * Internal poll for the Patrick Murphy campaign

District 19
Incumbent Republican Curt Clawson, who had represented the district since an 2014 special election, ran for re-election.

Republican Trey Radel who had elected to represent the 19th district in 2012, resigned on January 27, 2014, requiring a special election to fill the remainder of his term.

Nominee

 * Curt Clawson, incumbent U.S. Representative

Declined

 * Lizbeth Benacquisto, state senator
 * Chauncey Goss, political consultant and candidate for this seat in 2012
 * Paige Kreegel, former state representative and candidate for this seat in 2012
 * Connie Mack IV, former U.S. Representative and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2012

Nominee

 * April Freeman, film and television producer and co-founder of a political consulting firm

District 20
Incumbent Democrat Alcee Hastings, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 13th district from 1993 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Alcee Hastings, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Jean Enright, Port of Palm Beach Commissioner
 * Jameel McCline, former professional boxer

Nominee

 * Jay Bonner, marketing consultant and land surveyor

District 21
Incumbent Democrat Ted Deutch, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 19th district from 2010 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Ted Deutch, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Emmanuel Morel

Republican primary
No Republicans filed

Withdrawn

 * Henry Colon

District 22
Incumbent Democrat Lois Frankel, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Lois Frankel, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Paul Spain

Eliminated in primary

 * Andrea Leigh McGee
 * David Wagie

Withdrawn

 * Jeremy Rodgers

District 23
Incumbent Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. She previously represented the 20th district from 2005 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Debbie Wasserman Schultz, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Joseph Kaufman, founder of Americans Against Hate

Eliminated in primary

 * Juan Garcia

Declined

 * Ed Goldfarb, realtor

District 24
Incumbent Democrat Frederica Wilson, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. She previously represented the 17th district from 2011 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Frederica Wilson, incumbent U.S. Representative

Eliminated in primary

 * Michael Etienne

Nominee

 * Dufirstson Julio Neree

District 25
Incumbent Republican Mario Diaz-Balart, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election. He previously represented the 21st district from 2011 to 2013, as well as a different version of the 25th from 2003 to 2011, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Mario Diaz-Balart, incumbent U.S. Representative

General election
No candidates filed to challenge Diaz-Balart for his seat, so he returned to office without standing for election.

District 26
Incumbent Democrat Joe García, who had represented the district since 2013, ran for re-election.

Nominee

 * Joe García, incumbent U.S. Representative

Nominee

 * Carlos Curbelo, member of the Miami-Dade County Public School Board

Eliminated in primary

 * Ed MacDougall, Mayor of Cutler Bay
 * Joe Martinez, former Miami-Dade County commissioner
 * David Rivera, former U.S. Representative
 * Lorenzo Palomares Starbuck

Declined

 * Jose Felix Diaz, state representative
 * Anitere Flores, state senator

District 27
Incumbent Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who had represented the district since 2012, ran for re-election. She previously represented the 18th district from 1989 to 2013, prior to the decennial redistricting.

Nominee

 * Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, incumbent U.S. Representative

General election
No candidates filed to challenge Ros-Lehtinen for her seat, so she returned to office without standing for election.