TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – As other states continue their push to redraw their congressional maps, Florida’s role in this fight has diminished, at least publicly. However, the group remains on the defensive against the move as the state awaits next steps.
Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Usmier had called for a new mid-period census, saying Florida was wrong about the last one.
Desantis believes the state should be awarded at least two seats and hopes lawmakers will take up the challenge this year.
“If that relief is granted, it would obviously force the Florida Legislature to have to redraw the maps,” DeSantis said.
But not everyone is a fan of rezoning here in Florida.
“We’ve seen the governor propose redrawing the maps. We’ve seen the House form select committees, but the fact remains that in 2010, the people of Florida passed a constitutional amendment that made it illegal to draw maps to benefit a political party.”
Common Cause’s Amy Keith warns that the pressure to redraw Florida’s congressional districts is actually a dangerous district.
“I think that’s really concerning because we’ve seen this kind of national effort where the president is asking the nation to redraw maps to pick up additional Republican seats in the midterm elections, and that’s exactly what’s illegal here in Florida,” Keith said.
Keith points to the fair district amendment that Floridians voted in favor of in 2010, which prevents the drawing of lines that favor certain parties.
“We can talk about what’s going on in other states, but here in Florida, we’ve made it illegal to draw maps for partisan gain. So no matter what excuses we hear from people who want to do this to follow the trends of this nation, it’s very important that Floridians don’t fall for those excuses,” Keith said.
Keith encourages people back home to hold their state legislators accountable for further actions that may address this issue.
Where do MPs stand?
The move to RedRaw remains up in the air, but House and Senate leaders have been quiet on the issue.
In the past, both Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez have been open to rezoning conversations. House Speaker Danny Perez has created a select committee on the issue that is expected to meet soon.
But this committee week in Tallahassee and the Congressional District Committee are still not on the calendar.
8 For your part, you reached out to the Speaker’s team and asked what the redistricting committee was going to meet. Although they did not answer questions directly, they shared that they would be on the “observatory” online when future meetings are scheduled.
