TALHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) – For weeks, Gov. Ron DeSantis has kept people in suspense, hanging the possibility of a district change in front of Florida people, and now President Donald Trump is on the wheel.
Trump announced Thursday morning that in the Truth Society he ordered the Commerce Department to launch a new census effort. This should be considered redrawing the map of Congress as many states on either side of the aisle.
“This is something we’ve never seen before. It may not be constitutionally preventable in Florida, but it’s not a wise politics,” said political analyst Tara Newsom.
Florida Legislature leaders point to population growth as the driving force behind the creation of a new census.
“One concern is that we should have more seats in Congress than we do,” said Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Florida).
Gov. DeSantis has been rooting for the idea of redrawing the state legislature for weeks, saying Florida should have been awarded more seats in the last census.
“I think we’ve become a shortchange. The way we cut it was cut anyway, we’ve shortened. Even if we put the illegal issues aside, we’ve shortened them in the way they do the calculations,” Gov. DeSantis said.
But as Tara Newsom, a political analyst at St. Pete College, grows heavier, this could backfire Republicans looking to win more seats.
“There is a term that some pollers call it “dammandering.” That’s when either party tries to manipulate and gerrymandate districts for political interests,” Newsom said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it ends up splitting the district, and two things can happen: 1) You can land with more Democrats and districts than you intended, and the other is a pushback from voters who oppose the manipulation of our democratic game.”
State Democrats have questioned how they redrawn the map and call it dishonest.
“It may be within the purview of the letter of law, but certainly not within the spirit of law, and people understand the importance of census to understand the importance of rezoning. This will be confusing and frankly undermining the will of voters,” said Rep. Fentris Driskel (D-Tampa)
Florida House Speaker Danny Perez is now in debate and is writing to state legislators, calling on the selection committee to look into the districts of the legislature.
