6 FL Republicans Vote to End Shutdown

Six House Republicans from Florida voted with Democrats to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling Wednesday night, including two from Tampa Bay: Rep. Gus Bilirakis from Palm Harbor and Rep. Vern Buchanan from Sarasota.

Both released statements assuring constituents that they were still opposed to the Affordable Care Act and would continue to seek ways to derail or improve it. But they said they had to act to prevent a default on the national debt and end the government shutdown.

A statement from Buchanan, who called the past two weeks' shutdown by some Tea Party Republicans a "sad spectacle," said in part:

“Jeopardizing the full faith and credit of the United States by defaulting on our obligations was not an option. There is no question that we need to reduce spending and balance the budget, but not by degrading America’s credit rating and destroying our credibility.”

The four other House Republicans from Florida who voted "yes" on the late-night measure were Rep. Ander Crenshaw from Jacksonville, Rep. Daniel Webster from Orlando, and two from South Florida, Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart.

The other 10 House Republicans from Florida voted no, including several from greater Tampa Bay: Rep. Dennis Ross of Lakeland, Rep. Tom Rooney from Okeechobee, and Richard Nugent from Hernando County. Rep. Bill Young of Indian Shores in Pinellas County was absent.

All Democrats voted yes, including Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa.

Florida's senators split votes, with Sen. Bill Nelson, Democrat, voting yes and Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, voting no.

Here is the complete list of House members and how they voted, listed by district number (see map):

1. Rep. Jeff Miller (R). No.
2. Rep. Steve Southerland (R). No.
3. Rep. Ted Yoho (R). No.
4. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R). Yes.
5. Rep. Corrine Brown (D). Yes.
6. Rep. Ron DeSantis (R). No.
7. Rep. John Mica (R).  No.
8. Rep. Bill Posey (R). No.
9. Rep. Alan Grayson (D). Yes.
10. Rep. Daniel Webster (R). Yes.
11. Rep. Richard Nugent (R). No.
12. Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R). Yes.
13. Rep. W. Bill Young (R). Absent.
14. Rep. Kathy Castor (D). Yes.
15. Rep. Dennis Ross (R). No.
16. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R). Yes.
17. Rep. Thomas Rooney (R). No.
18. Rep. Patrick Murphy (D). Yes.
19. Rep. Trey Radel (R). No.
20. Rep. Alcee Hastings (D). Yes.
21. Rep. Theodore Deutch (D). Yes.
22. Rep. Lois Frankel (D). Yes.
23. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D). Yes.
24. Rep. Frederica Wilson (D). Yes.
25. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R). Yes.
26. Rep. Joe Garcia (D). Yes.
27. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R). Yes.

Overall, the vote in the Senate, which came first, was 81 to 18. The House vote was 285 to 144. For more details on Wednesday's action in Congress, see this article from NPR.