The district consists of the eastern part of the Florida Panhandle along with much of the Big Bend region along the Emerald Coast.

With 49% of its residents living in rural areas, it is the least urbanized district in the state, and the voters are generally conservative.

Florida's 2nd Congressional District is the largest congressional district in Florida by land area and consists of all of Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla, and Washington counties, as well as portions of Walton and Lafayette.

With a large population of students, government workers and university faculty, Tallahassee was far more liberal than the rest of the district.

[7] By comparison, Romney would have carried the new 2nd with 64 percent of the vote in 2012, making it on paper the third-most Republican district in the state.