Florida → Senate → District 13
¶ Florida Senate District 13
The Florida Senate directory lists Keith L. Truenow (R) for the 2024–26 term and gives the county coverage as Consists of Lake county and part of Orange county.
District map · 2022 Senate plan
¶ Geography and communities
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**Geographic extent:**Spans the entirety of Lake County (approx. 1,157 square miles, including water bodies) alongside contiguous northwestern census tracts of Orange County.
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**Municipalities and population centers:**Major Lake County communities include Clermont, Leesburg, Tavares (county seat), Eustis, Mount Dora, Groveland, Fruitland Park, Minneola, and Lady Lake.The Orange County slice encompasses areas bordering Apopka and rural/suburban northwestern tracts.
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**Unincorporated communities:**Extensive unincorporated regions including The Villages (Lake County portion),Sorrento,Mount Plymouth,Montverde,and Okahumpka.
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**Transportation corridors:**Anchored north-to-south by Florida's Turnpike and U.S.Route 27; east-to-west transit is carried by U.S.Route 441,State Road 50,and State Road 46.The Wekiva Parkway (State Road 429 extension) links northeastern Lake directly into Orange and Seminole counties.
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**Environmental systems:**Contains the Harris Chain of Lakes (Lakes Harris,Eustis,Dora,and Griffin),the Lake Wales Ridge scrub ecosystems,the southern edge of the Ocala National Forest,and portions of the Wekiva River basin.
¶ Population and electorate
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**Total population benchmark:**Under the 2020 Decennial Census redistricting baseline, Florida state senate districts were targeted at approximately 539,263 residents.
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**County-level demographic context:**Lake County (the anchor entity) recorded 383,956 residents in the 2020 Census,with Census Bureau estimates surpassing 420,000 by 2023; the remainder of District 13’s population resides in adjacent Orange County tracts.
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**Electorate composition:**Predominantly suburban-rural with a significant retirement footprint in northern Lake County (The Villages and surrounding age-restricted communities) balancing rapidly growing exurban commuter corridors in south Lake (Clermont,Groveland).
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**District-aligned census breakouts:**Sub-county tract breakdowns specific solely to the Orange County sliver are maintained within legislative GIS shapefiles; cross-county block aggregations outside the redistricting files remain unknown.
¶ Elections and political context
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**2024 general election result:**Keith Truenow (R) won with 181,074 votes (60.3%) over Democrat Stephanie L. Dukes, who received 119,212 votes (39.7%), certified by theFlorida Division of Elections.
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**2024 Republican primary:**Truenow secured the nomination on August 20, 2024, winning 67.0% of the vote against challengers Bowen Kou and CJ Blancett.
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**Prior redistricting election (2022)
*Following the adoption of map S027S8058, Republican incumbent Dennis Baxley won District 13 in November 2022 with 62.1% against Stephanie Dukes (37.9%).(Baxley did not seek re-election in 2024,creating an open seat). -
**Partisan baseline:**District 13 functions as a Republican-leaning seat (+20 to +24 margin in recent state legislative contests),reinforced by solid Republican turnout in central and northern Lake County offsetting competitive margins in south Lake and western Orange.
¶ Economic and civic anchors
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**Agriculture and turfgrass:**Broad economic roots in specialty agribusiness,citrus,ornamental horticulture,and sod production.The incumbent founded and operated Lake Jem Farms,a major regional sod producer based in Mount Dora.
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**Healthcare systems:**UF Health Central Florida (operating UF Health Leesburg Hospital),Orlando Health South Lake Hospital (Clermont),and AdventHealth Waterman (Tavares) serve as major regional employers.
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**Higher education institutions:**Lake-Sumter State College (campuses in Leesburg,Clermont,and Sumterville) and Lake Technical College (Eustis) anchor local vocational and degree programs.
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**Retirement and development:**The Villages operational ecosystem heavily influences northern Lake retail,specialized services,and construction; southern Lake (Clermont/Groveland) represents a major regional residential and logistics corridor feeding the Greater Orlando metro area.
¶ People and organizations to map
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**Elected leadership:**Senator Keith L.Truenow; Lake County Board of County Commissioners (Tavares); Orange County Board of County Commissioners (Orlando; oversight of county border precincts); municipal mayors across Clermont,Leesburg,and Tavares.
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**Civic and business groups:**Lake County Farm Bureau,East Lake County Chamber of Commerce,South Lake Chamber of Commerce,and the Lake County Economic Development Department.
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**Campaign donor networks:**Agribusiness trade PACs (e.g.,Florida Farm Bureau Federation PAC,Florida Forestry Association),real estate/construction associations,and political committees supporting conservative legislative leadership in Tallahassee.
¶ Representation and legislative work
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**Legislative office locations:**Capitol office at 306 Senate Building,Tallahassee; primary district office located at the Lake County Agricultural Center,1951 Woodlea Road,Tavares,FL 32778;satellite district office at 16207 State Road 50, Clermont, FL 34711.
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Committee leadership and assignments (2024–2026):
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Chair: Committee on Agriculture.
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Vice Chair: Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security.
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Member:Appropriations Committee on Agriculture,Environment,and General Government; Appropriations Committee on Transportation,Tourism,and Economic Development; Committee on Banking and Insurance; Committee on Fiscal Policy;Joint Legislative Auditing Committee.
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**Legislative priorities:**Water resource permitting,agricultural property tax classifications,rural land preservation (Rural and Family Lands Protection Program),and infrastructure funding for Central Florida roadway expansions.Full committee rolls and bill filings are tracked directly via theFlorida Senate Legislation Portal.
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Correlation research questions:
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*Infrastructure vs. Land Conservation:*How do Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) District 5 right-of-way acquisitions along the SR 50/US 27 corridors correlate with state agricultural conservation easements funded through the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) in southern Lake County?(Test using FDOT Work Program records vs.FDACS Rural and Family Lands easement parcel maps).
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*Healthcare Expansion vs. Demographic Shift:*Does capital appropriation request volume from Orlando Health South Lake and AdventHealth Waterman track the precinct-level shift in Medicare-eligible voters versus under-40 commuter population inflows in the Clermont/Groveland tracts?(Test using Florida Senate Local Funding Initiative Requests vs.Lake County Supervisor of Elections precinct voter demographics).
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*Agribusiness Contributions vs. Water Regulation Votes:*To what degree do campaign donations from Central Florida sod and citrus growers to legislative political action committees correlate with voting records on agricultural water usage metrics within the St.Johns River Water Management District?(Test using Florida Division of Elections campaign finance databases against Senate Agriculture Committee roll-call votes).
¶ Source trail
Research text: Gemini browser session, 2026-10-04. Officeholder and county coverage: Florida Senate directory. The graph keeps these leads separate from the reference office record.