It presently comprises a large section of north central Florida, including the entire counties of Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Levy, Suwannee, and Union, along with the majority of Lafayette and Marion County.

The city of Gainesville is in the district as well as part of Ocala (its northern suburbs), and portions of the Jacksonville metropolitan area.

Because Florida has a large population of African Americans, but not a large enough concentration anywhere in the state to easily configure a congressional district with a majority, there were several attempts to create a few gerrymandered districts which were certain to elect an African American candidate.

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.

Starting from the southern part of the district, it included the Pine Hills area of the Orlando-Kissimmee Metropolitan Area with small pockets of African-American neighborhoods in the cities of Sanford, Gainesville, Palatka, and finally the larger African American communities of Jacksonville.