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Florida's Third Congressional District is a U.S. congressional district in Florida. Currently, the residents of the Third District are represented by Democrat Corrine Brown.

[edit] History

While Florida has had at least three congressional districts since the 1900 Census, the current third district dates to reapportionment done by the Florida state legislature after the 1990 Census. Because Florida has a large population of African-Americans, but not a large enough concentration anywhere in the state to easily configure a U.S. congressional district with a majority, there were several attempts to create a few gerrymandered districts which were certain to elect a black candidate. This created an odd coalition of Black Democrats and Republicans who supported such districts (since this not only created Black-majority districts, but also made "safer" Republican districts elsewhere). This effort was opposed by many White Democrats, but eventually this idea won the support of the State legislature, and this district was created as a result. While most districts in Florida, and around the country are centered on one area, this district has no single area dominating the district. Starting from the southern part of the district, it includes the Pine Hills area of the Orlando metro area, with small pockets of African-American neighborhoods in the cities of Sanford, Ocala, Gainesville, Palatka, and finally the larger African-American communites of Jacksonville. Connecting these areas are regions which are sparsely populated-either expansive rural areas or narrow strips which are only a few miles wide. Critics of this district's borders (and others like it) argue that this district creates a representative of a district with no common interests except race and which might be unresponsive to the needs of the rural White voters in the district. George W. Bush received 35% of the vote in this district in 2004. The district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index score of D +16.

[edit] External links

• Rep. Corrine Brown's official House of Representatives website

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