Florida's 15th congressional district

"FL-15" redirects here. For the state road, see Florida State Road 15.

Florida's 15th congressional district is an electoral district for the U.S. Congress and is located in the northeastern suburbs of Tampa, including parts of Hillsborough, Pasco, and Polk counties. The district includes Plant City and Zephyrhills, as well as parts of Tampa city proper, Brandon, and Lakeland.

Florida's 15th congressional district
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative	Laurel Lee R–Tampa
Area	1,170[1] sq mi (3,000 km2)
Distribution	92.06% urban[2] 7.94% rural
Population (2023)	828,431[3]
Median household income	$71,865[3]
Ethnicity	51.1% White 25.2% Hispanic 13.7% Black 5.2% Asian 3.9% Two or more races 0.9% other
Cook PVI	R+4[4]

From 2003 to 2013, the prior 15th district contained most of Brevard County south of the city of Cocoa (including the Kennedy Space Center), all of Indian River County, most of Osceola County, and a very small portion of Polk County. The district took in the cities of Kissimmee, Melbourne, and Vero Beach, as well as Patrick Space Force Base. Boundaries were redrawn due to a lawsuit in 2015.^[5] Much of this area is now the 8th district, while the current 15th takes in most of what was previously the 12th district.

From 2013 to 2017, the district included the northern parts of Hillsborough and Polk counties.^[6][7] After court-ordered redistricting for the 2016 elections, it also included the southernmost parts of Lake County.

The district is currently represented by Republican Laurel Lee.

Composition

#	County	Seat	Population
57	Hillsborough	Tampa	1,535,564
101	Pasco	Dade City	632,996
105	Polk	Bartow	818,330

Cities with 10,000 or more people

• Tampa – 403,364
• Brandon – 114,626
• Lakeland – 112,641
• Wesley Chapel – 64,866
• University – 50,893
• Plant City – 39,764
• Valrico – 37,895
• Land O' Lakes – 35,929
• Lake Magdalene – 30,742
• East Lake-Orient Park – 28,050
• Temple Terrace – 26,690
• Keystone – 25,211
• Lutz – 23,707
• Northdale – 23,033
• Zephyrhills – 18,154
• Thonotosassa – 15,238
• Mango – 12,699
• Cheval – 12,522
• Medulla – 10,871

2,500-10,000 people

• Pebble Creek – 9,624
• Seffner – 8,362
• Pasadena Hills – 7,570
• Odessa – 7,538
• Carrollwood – 7,195
• Willow Oak – 6,806
• Kathleen – 6,486
• Zephyrhills West – 5,533
• Zephyrhills South – 4,985
• Dover – 3,266
• Zephyrhills North – 2,663

List of members representing the district

Representative	Party	Years	Congress	Note
District created January 3, 1973
Dante Fascell (Miami)	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	Redistricted from the 12th district and re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Redistricted to the 19th district.
Clay Shaw (Fort Lauderdale)	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Redistricted from the 12th district and re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Redistricted to the 22nd district.
Jim Bacchus (Merritt Island)	Democratic	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995	103rd	Redistricted from the 11th district and re-elected in 1992. Retired.
Dave Weldon (Indialantic)	Republican	January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2009	104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th	Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Retired.
Bill Posey (Rockledge)	Republican	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2013	111th 112th	Elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Redistricted to the 8th district.
Dennis Ross (Lakeland)	Republican	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2019	113th 114th 115th	Redistricted from the 12th district and re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Retired.
Ross Spano (Riverview)	Republican	January 3, 2019 – January 3, 2021	116th	Elected in 2018. Lost renomination.
Scott Franklin (Lakeland)	Republican	January 3, 2021 – January 3, 2023	117th	Elected in 2020. Redistricted to the 18th district.
Laurel Lee (Tampa)	Republican	January 3, 2023 – present	118th	Elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

Election results

2002

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2002)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Weldon*	146,414	63.15
	Democratic	Jim Tso	85,433	36.85
Total votes			231,847	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2004

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2004)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Weldon*	210,388	65.35
	Democratic	Simon Pristoop	111,538	34.65
Total votes			321,926	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2006

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2006)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dave Weldon*	125,965	56.29
	Democratic	Robert Bowman	97,834	43.71
Total votes			223,799	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2008

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2008)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Posey	192,151	53.10
	Democratic	Stephen Lee Blythe	151,951	41.99
	Independent	Frank Zilaitis	14,274	3.94
	Independent	Trevor Lowing	3,495	0.97
Total votes			361,871	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2010

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2010)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Posey*	157,079	64.76
	Democratic	C. Shannon Roberts	85,595	35.27
Total votes			242,674	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2012

Republican candidate Dennis Ross won the election unopposed, as the Democrats did not nominate a candidate.^[8] Ross at the time was already the incumbent of the old 12th District prior to the 2010 reapportionment.

2014

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2014)^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Ross	128,750	60.3
	Democratic	Alan Cohn	84,832	39.7
Total votes			213,582	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2016

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2016)^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Dennis Ross*	182,999	57.5
	Democratic	Jim Lange	135,475	42.5
Total votes			318,474	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2018

Florida's 15th Congressional District Election (2018)^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ross Spano	151,380	53.02
	Democratic	Kristen Carlson	134,132	46.98
Total votes			285,532	100.00
Turnout
	Republican hold

2020

2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Scott Franklin	216,374	55.38%
	Democratic	Alan Cohn	174,297	44.61%
Total votes			390,671	100.0
	Republican hold

2022

2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Florida

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Laurel Lee	145,219	58.54%
	Democratic	Alan Cohn	102,835	41.46%
Total votes			248,054	100.0
	Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

• 
  2003–2013
• 
  2013–2017
• 
  2017–2023

References

1. "Congressional Plan--SC14-1905 (Ordered by The Florida Supreme Court, 2-December-2015)" (PDF). Florida Senate Committee on Reapportionment. Retrieved January 11, 2017.
2. "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013.
3. "My Congressional District".
4. "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
5. Klas, Mary Ellen. "Florida Supreme Court approves congressional map drawn by challengers". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
6. See whole Florida state map for 2013, with the 15th district in northern Hillsborough County and Polk County: h9047_35x42L.pdf Congressional Plan: H000C9047. Chapter No. 2012-2, Laws of Florida. www.flsenate.gov. February 16, 2012.
7. See 2013 borders of 15th district in the 2013 districts map: H000C9047_map_bb.pdf, for the Big Bend region of Florida. Congressional Plan: H000C9047. Chapter No. 2012-2, Laws of Florida. www.flsenate.gov. February 2012.
8. "Florida's 15th Congressional District elections, 2012". Ballotpedia.
9. "Florida's 15th Congressional District elections, 2014". Ballotpedia.
10. "Florida's 15th Congressional District election, 2016". Ballotpedia.
11. "Florida Election Watch - US Representative". floridaelectionwatch.gov.

External links

• 2008 Race Tracker
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present