Al Lawson

For other people named Alfred Lawson, see Alfred Lawson (disambiguation).
Alfred Lawson, Jr.
Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 5th district
Taking office
January 3, 2017
Succeeding Corrine Brown
Member of the Florida Senate
from the 6th district
In office
2000–2010
Succeeded by Bill Montford
Personal details
Born (1948-09-21) September 21, 1948
Tallahassee, Florida
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Dr. Delores Brooks
Residence Tallahassee, Florida
Alma mater Florida A&M University,
Florida State University
Profession Insurance
Religion Episcopalian

Alfred "Al" Lawson Jr. (born September 21, 1948)[1] is a member-elect of the United States House of Representatives for Florida's 5th congressional district and is a member of the Democratic Party. Prior to his election to the House of Representatives, he represented the 6th District in the Florida Senate, from 2000 through 2010 and the Florida House of Representatives from 1982 through 2000.

Lawson received his bachelor's degree from Florida A&M University, and his Master of Public Administration from Florida State University.

Campaigns for the U.S. House

2010

Lawson ran for the Democratic nomination in Florida's 2nd congressional district in 2010, challenging seven-term incumbent Allen Boyd.[2] Lawson narrowly lost to Boyd in the Democratic primary,[3] and Boyd lost to Republican newcomer Steve Southerland in the general election by more than 12 percentage points.[4][5]

2012

Lawson ran again for the seat in 2012, and won the Democratic nomination against Blue Dog-endorsed state Rep. Leonard Bembry. He lost to incumbent Republican nominee Steve Southerland in the general election by less than 6 points.[6]

2016

A lawsuit challenging the Florida congressional district map radically changed the 5th district. For the past quarter century, the district and its predecessors had covered most of the majority-black precincts from Jacksonville to Orlando. The new map, however, changed the district to an east-west configuration stretching from Tallahassee to downtown Jacksonville. Lawson announced he would run on December 15, 2015, setting up a battle against Corrine Brown, the only congresswoman the district had known since its creation in 1993.[7]

On paper, the district's demographics appeared to be against Lawson. While the district now included most of Tallahassee, the capital and its suburbs only accounted for 32 percent of the district's population, while the Jacksonville area accounted for 61 percent.[8] However, his bid received a significant boost in July 2016, when Brown was brought up on federal corruption charges.[9] He defeated Brown in the Democratic primary--the real contest in this heavily Democratic district--on August 30, 2016. He then defeated Republican Glo Smith in the general election on November 8 with 64% of the vote.[10]

References

  1. ↑ https://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/23896. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Kam, Dara (2009-02-05). "Palm Beach Post Blogs: Area news, sports, entertainment, business & more". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
  3. ↑ Isenstadt, Alex (2010-08-25). "Rep. Allen Boyd holds on in Florida". Politico. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
  4. ↑ Helgoth, Ali (2010-11-03). "Southerland defeats Boyd". The News Herald. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
  5. ↑ "2010 General Election Results". Florida Division of Elections. 2010-11-03. Retrieved 2011-06-16.
  6. ↑ "November 6, 2012 General Election, Official Results". Florida Division of Elections. 2012-11-06. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  7. ↑ Caputo, Marc (December 15, 2015). "Lawson announces run for Congress". Politico.
  8. ↑ Daily Kos Elections congressional district redistribution analysis (post-2010 census)
  9. ↑ Kelly, Nora (July 8, 2016). "Representative Corrine Brown Indicted on Federal Charges". The Atlantic.
  10. ↑ Gardner, Lynnsey; Moyer, Crystal (August 30, 2016). "After 12 terms in Congress, Corrine Brown defeated". WJXT. Retrieved August 30, 2016.

External links

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