by Javier Manjarres
There has been much speculation amongst potential political candidates throughout Florida- much of it ill-informed- as to where the Congressional and State Legislative redistricting lines will be drawn later this year. With Amendments 5 & 6 being voted into law in Florida last year, it’s a safe bet that whatever redistricting lines are drawn up, they will eventually be challenged in the courts by groups like Fair Districts Florida, prolonging the finalization of the redistricting process.
In an earlier post, The Jockeying for 2012 is Underway…, I detailed what could, and most likely happen when the redistricting lines are finally drawn up:
At the Federal level, there are potential candidates who are sitting back and waiting for next year’s re-districting to potentially open up seats that would be favorable to the GOP or make previously “safe” seats for Democrats competitive. Contrary to the so-called ‘Wizards of Smart’ (hat tip to El Rushbo) that are already assuming where Florida’s two new congressional districts will be located, chances are they won’t be placed in Southeast Florida, in spite of its population growth. With the GOP controlling the bounds of redistricting, it’s a safe bet they won’t do anything that harms Republican-held Congressional seats like Allen West’s seat in District 22, Tom Rooney’s in District 16, David Rivera’s in District 25, or skew state house and senate seats that overlap those Congressional Districts. As it stands right now, Congressional Districts 17,19, 20, and 23 strongly favor Democrats, and Districts 22 and 25 were considered toss-up seats before this past election cycle.
There is the possibility that the GOP could broker a deal with the Democrats to which could solidify existing GOP Congressional seats as well as Democrat seats like District 19 and 23. Two new congressional seats will be drawn- one of the two new seats could be located in Southwest Florida, and the other could split up existing Congressional District 2, creating two GOP-friendly seats. It’s also possible that no deal will be brokered and strong Democrat seats like District 17, 19, and 20 could be even made stronger by giving back portions of surrounding Districts that lean ‘D’, while taking ‘R’ leaning areas out of either Districts 17 or 19 and redrawing them into part of District 20. We’ll have to wait to see what the ‘powers that be’ will do to redraw the ‘battle’ lines that were last drawn in 2000.
Speaker Dean Cannon has joined members of Congress Corrine Brown (D) and Mario Diaz-Balart (R) in a lawsuit against the state to overturn the amendments. This announcement by Cannon comes on the heels of Governor Rick Scott’s decision to delay the implementation of the amendments voted into law last year. State Senate President Mike Haridopolos is not backing Cannon’s lawsuit at the present time, but he has also expressed the same fears that other legislators have had about these Amendments since their inception.
Unfortunately, a majority of Floridians were fo0led by the cleverly sounding verbiage within the amendments last November. To this day, “Fair” Districts Florida has never offered a definitive example as to what exactly a fairly drawn district would look like, as it only talks in the vaguest notions of how “fairness” – as they define the term- comes into play when drawing districts.
9 Responses to “Florida’s Redistricting Begins to Take Shape, Litigation Looms”
Wasn’t the last redistricting in Florida accomplished by the Democrats? Were the boundries fair or not then and are they fair now? If there is a need for change don’t let the boudries be ruled by where the money is but let it be where the people are…..
The ballot was not clear. I still don’t know if I voted in favor of or against it.
The ballot language was very ambiguous which opens the door wide for lawsuits.
“Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice.”
I think it’s ridiculous that boundaries would be drawn to make safe districts for either party. My congressional district is 20 and is gerrymandered beyond belief. I live in Davie and I’m districted with the liberal bastions of Weston and Miami Beach. At the very least, Miami Beach should be separated from my district.
It’s not that difficult. Draw the districts to:1. conform to county lines, then 2. to conform to major roads or rivers(geographical features) in adjusting within a county or among counties. 3.City or town limits are also obvious lines of demarcation. If it looks like a snake it was probably drawn by a snake.
Example-Corrine Brown’s District 3 looks like a snake! Nothing better I would like then to see her voted out of office but surely you could create boundaries that don’t split Green Cove in half and looks something like a box. I thought the amendments were pretty clear. Regardless of the number of D’s and R’s straighten up the lines.
Districts should follow existing political subdivisions counties cities etc. and be as compact as possible. The citizens of one area should be represented by some one from that area not some one from 90 miles away.
Do it square them off give them borders set by city limits and population numbers. The Republicans don’t want it now the Democrats do. Before the Democrats loved it, the Blacks loved it because it gave them the opportunity to elect more Democrats and Black politicians. Now they don’t. Trust in the voter is not the mantra of Politicians, We have proved that being black is no longer a deterrent to hold office even though I personally think that he was and is the wrong black for the job.
With computers being so powerful these days, I would go in the direction of feeding in the number of districts to make, physical boundaries not to cross, and existing political boundaries — and then tell the computer to draw the district boundaries as compact as possible, and then just let the computer do its thing. Maybe do so minor tweaking, but live with it.
Does “Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice” mean minorities have to be represented by “their kind,” or does one man, one vote just do it? I would think that’s the only way to protect minorities _and_ everyone else. If your are, say, a white person living in a district that has been gerrymandered to “protect” blacks, then _you_ are being disadvantaged.
I mean…C`mon…40% of who decides who is going to be the Dem candidate isn`t even up to the voter. Michigan….?!Florida…?!…WTF…?! It goes for both sides too…Constantly redistricting to keep incumbants. I wish they would get their head out their @%$!!!
Anyway……OBAMICANS UNITE!!!