In 1992, Fowler won the Republican nomination for Florida's 4th Congressional District, based in Jacksonville. The district had previously been the 3rd, represented by 22-term incumbent Charlie Bennett, but had been renumbered as the 4th after Florida gained four districts in the 1990 United States Census. Bennett was the second-longest serving member of the House and the longest-serving member of either house of Congress in Florida history. Jacksonville had leaned Republican for some time (the city has only voted for the Democratic presidential nominee once since 1972 even though Democrats still have a substantial majority in registration), but Bennett seemed to have an unbreakable hold on the seat. Fowler was only the seventh Republican to challenge him.