Karl Etters

Democrat staff writer

Update 11:37

Democrat Gwen Graham unseated two-term Republican Rep. Steve Southerland on Tuesday, becoming the first woman ever and the first Tallahasseean in modern history to win the 2nd Congressional District seat.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting in the 14-county North Florida district, unofficial results were:

Graham: 124,190 votes, 50.6 percent

Southerland: 121,258 votes, 49.4 percent

Graham, appearing before a large crowd of supporters at the University Center Club, pledged to be "one heck of a strong" voice for her constituents.

"The only reason I ran in this race is so that I could provide the people of the 2nd Congressional District the kind of representation that you deserve," Graham said. "You're going to get it, and I'm going to work hard every single day. I'm going to build and forge relationships. I'm going to make sure that Congress is not dysfunctional but is willing to work together."

Graham said Southerland called her late Tuesday to concede the race. He later issued a statement that said he "couldn't be more proud of the campaign" his team ran.

"We fought hard, remained focused on the issues and always put our North and Northwest Florida values first," he said. "While the results certainly weren't what we hoped for, I congratulate Gwen Graham and wish her the best. I am committed to doing all I can to ensure the smooth transition our constituents deserve."

Graham, an attorney and the daughter of former U.S. Sen. and Florida Gov. Bob Graham, and Southerland both ran aggressive campaigns, quickly answering attack pieces from their opponents. Graham capitalized on missteps by Southerland, including his attendance at a men-only fundraiser in which invitations advised "the misses" not to wait up.

Graham said the first phone calls she would make are to Republican Reps. Jeff Miller and Ted Yoho of the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts, "because we are the congressmen that represent the Panhandle of Florida and we need to have a good working relationship so that we can do what is right for the people here in North Florida."

Graham was joined in her acceptance speech by her family and father, who was often by her side throughout the campaign.

A first-time candidate, Graham portrayed Southerland as out of touch with North Florida voters and highlighted his staunchly conservative voting record.

Her mantra throughout the campaign was bringing a bipartisan approach — "the North Florida way" — to what she called "this messed-up Congress."

Southerland, a Panama City funeral home director, tried to link Graham to Washington Democrats, particularly President Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, saying she was a hand-picked rubber stamp for their policies, including the Affordable Care Act.

Nationally, Republicans were projected to achieve a net gain of 12 seats on top of the 233 they already control in the House. Entering Tuesday, Democrats had 199 seats. Three seats were vacant.

The 2nd District race was one of the nastiest and most expensive House races in the country. Outside groups spent $8.5 million on TV ads and other campaign activities, mostly aimed at tearing down one candidate or the other.

Ali Lapp, executive director of House Majority PAC, which spent almost $950,000 to help Graham win, said the House seat seemed a potential pickup opportunity for Democrats.

"As the race came together, so did House Majority PAC's coordination of message and programming with seven allied Democratic groups," she said.

The outside money in the race was almost twice as much as the past two elections for the seat combined.

Graham developed an economic plan focused on bolstering agriculture and tourism-based industries, vocational training through established community colleges, veteran workforce training and tax breaks for small businesses.

Southerland touted his work on agriculture and transportation committee legislation. He championed his efforts to strengthen national defense and security, and relaxing what he called onerous federal agency regulations that have stalled farming and commerce.

Graham's campaign deployed high-profile Democrats in the closing days of the campaign, including former President Bill Clinton, Georgia Congressman and civil-rights leader John Lewis and popular singer Jimmy Buffett, who all stumped for her in Tallahassee.

Graham crisscrossed rural counties of the district, which generally vote Republican, in an effort to make inroads. On Tuesday afternoon, she felt her message had penetrated there.

"We have incredible, incredible response in the rural counties," she said. "It didn't used to be that if you were a Democrat or a Republican that you couldn't be friends with each other. Let's get back to a time when no matter what party you're in, you're working hard on behalf of all the people that elected you."

Southerland, who voted more than 50 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, tried to tether Graham to the president's signature piece of legislation, which remains unpopular among conservative-leaning voters.

Graham countered by saying she wasn't in Congress at the time and leveled her own criticism of Obamacare. She said in television spots that, "Democrats bit off more than they could chew" in creating the law.

"This is a big win for food advocates and Florida families," said Tom Colicchio, co-founder and board member of Food Policy Action, which spent more than $34,000 to influence the race. "Congressman Southerland has repeatedly made policy choices that are harmful to families and small farmers. Today, we proved that voters care about food issues, and they will hold their elected officials accountable on Election Day."

Democrat Washington Bureau reporter Ledge King contributed to this article.





Update: 9:39 p.m.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The daughter of former Democratic Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham beat Republican Congressman Steve Southerland in one of the country's most expensive congressional races.

The Associated Press declared Gwen Graham the winner Tuesday, as she held a 1 percentage point lead over Southerland with 99 percent of the precincts reported.

"Every day along this campaign trail, the only reason I ran in this race is so that I could provide the people of the 2nd congressional district the kind of representation that you deserve," Graham, the first congresswoman elected to the district, said to a crowd of supporters in Tallahassee after it was announced she won. "You're going to get it and I'm going to work hard every single day. I'm going to build and forge relationships, I'm going to make sure that Congress is not dysfunctional but is willing to work together."

"I'm going to be one voice, but I'm going to be one heck of a strong one," she added.

Graham's campaign criticized the partisanship in Washington, saying Congress needed someone who would use the "north Florida way" of cooperating despite party differences.

Southerland was elected during the tea party movement in 2010. He said Graham would support policies supported by President Barack Obama and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi.

The Center for Responsive Politics listed the contest as the eight-most expensive congressional race in the country, with more than $14 million spent.

Update: 8:58 p.m.

Early district-wide results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has a slight lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland in the race for District 2.

With about 236,000 votes, Graham has 51 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 49 percent.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this race.

Update: 8:44 p.m.

Early district-wide results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has a slight lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland in the race for District 2.

With about 229,000 votes, Graham has 52 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 48 percent.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this race.

Update: 8:28 p.m.

Early district-wide results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has a lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland.

With about 187,000 votes counted, Graham has 56 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 44 percent.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for updates.

Update: 8:02 p.m.

Early district-wide results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has an early lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland.

With about 130,000 votes counted, Graham has 61 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 39 percent.

Update: 7:58 p.m.

Early Leon County election results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has an early lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland.

With 56 of 132 precincts completely reporting, Graham has 65 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 35 percent.

Check back with Tallahassee.com

Update: 7:20 p.m.

Early Leon County election results show Democratic challenger Gwen Graham has an early lead over incumbent congressman Steve Southerland.

With six precincts completely reporting, Graham has 65 percent of the vote compared to Southerland's 35 percent.

Original Story:

About a quarter of Florida's 2nd Congressional District has already voted in Tuesday's general election.

Former director of employee labor relations with the Leon County School District Gwen Graham is looking to unseat Rep. Steve Southerland R-Panama City who is seeking his third term in the Panhandle district.

Graham is seeking her first elected office in what has become one of Florida's most closely watched congressional races.

Representation of the district will be determined after polls close at 7 p.m. across two tie zones, but almost a third of the more than 452,000 total registered voters have already cast ballots during early voting or by mail, according to the state Division of Elections.

As of Saturday — the last day of early voting — 121,938 people, or 26.9 percent, had voted within the 14-county district stretching from Madison to Bay County.

Twenty-eight percent of district Democrats have cast about 63, 600 ballots, and 31.4 percent of Republicans have cast 46, 600 ballots and other party affiliation voters have cast 11,700 ballots.

Traditionally, Democratic voters don't turn out in as high of numbers as their Republican counterparts.

Party affiliation of early voters is an indicator of who is casting ballots, but both Democratic and Republican analysts say they don't necessarily equate to votes along party lines.

The candidates are making last minute appearances and runs across the district encouraging people to vote on Election Day.

Graham has run on a promise to put aside partisan bickering that she says Republicans and Southerland have perpetuated to the result of gridlock and a Congress with a low approval rating.

She has developed an economic plan focused on bolstering agriculture and tourism-based industries, vocational training through established community colleges, veteran workforce training and tax breaks fro small businesses.

Southerland, a funeral home director, has focused on his record on key agriculture and transportation committee legislation and linking his opponent's ideology to Washington leadership.

The two debated twice in Tallahassee and have been joined by a cast of supporters who have traveled to the district to encourage people to vote in the off-season election.

Former President Bill Clinton, singer Jimmy Buffett and Georgia Congressman John Lewis have all joined Graham in early voting rallies in Tallahassee.

Graham's father, former U.S. Senator and Florida Gov. Bob Graham has campaigned alongside often in place of his daughter for several months.

Fellow Republican lawmakers Sen. Marco Rubio R-Fla., and Georgia Rep. Tom Graves and one-term Florida Rep. Allen West joined Southerland in the final days of the campaign to encourage early voting.

Television and mailer ads, in large part financed by outside committees, has turned the final weeks of the campaign nasty as interested parties try to maintain 16 seats nationally that incumbents are in danger of losing.

As of Monday, $8.39 million in outside money has been poured into the race.

Graham has raised $3.34 million while spending $3.16 million of it. More than $606,000 is from political action committee and party donations, according to federal finance reports.

Southerland has raised and spent less, using $2.62 million of $2.70 million in total contributions. More than $1.24 million is from committee or party donations.

With a mid-October Gallup poll rating congressional approval around 14 percent, the two began two-day voter rallies that will end at their home districts of Leon and Bay counties tonight as results begin to come in.

Polls close at 7 p.m.

Check back with Tallahassee.com as we update this story throughout the day.