The final maps have been drawn, the final arguments have been made, and now Florida’s Congressional Redistricting nightmare may be near its end. Yesterday, more testimony and final arguments were made and heard and now the case rests in the hands of Leon County Judge Terry Lewis.
Judge Lewis has a total of 7 maps to review and he could decide on one of these maps, or a hybrid of several of maps. The Court gave legislators specific guidelines for redrawing eight districts and orders Judge Lewis to review these maps. Disputes over the maps focused on two questions: whether the Florida Senate or House incorporated these recommendations to draw their maps and also whether they intentionally attempted to favor Republicans when two districts in Miami-Dade County were drawn up. After weeks of discussions of various Congressional Districts including CD 5 and CD 10, the arguments this week focused on CD 26, a district that lies in Miami-Dade County, whose seat is currently occupied by Republican Carlos Curbelo. These arguments centered on moving several black sections of the district out of CD 26, making the new district more favorable to Curbelo and Republicans. Discussion ensued on voting habits of blacks and Hispanics with Attorney George Meros, an attorney for the Florida House stating, “There is substantially antagonistic voting between African-Americans and Hispanics, and there is no coalition-building”. Congressional District 26 is federally protected to require that Hispanic voters be allowed to elect a candidate of their choosing. In fact, this argument was at the heart of the House’s argument that the maps submitted by The League of Women Voters and Common Cause Florida were unconstitutional. The Citizens’ groups agreed that Blacks and Hispanics usually do not form voter coalitions, but also stated that Hispanics form coalitions with other groups. Attorneys for the Citizens groups argued that the maps offered by the House and Senate violate the state anti-gerrymandering provisions. Under Florida’s voter-approved anti-gerrymandering constitutional provisions, district lines cannot be drawn that would help or hurt either a Party or an incumbent.
As for Congressional District 5, it appears this district will remain intact, winding its way down from Jacksonville to Northwest Orange County. CD 5 was drawn up in 1992, as a Minority Access District by order of the United States Supreme Court, to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The future of the current Congressional District 10 seems less certain, and will possibly incorporate the proposed changes into Lake County, making the District a bit more democratic in nature, and provide a challenge for Congressman Daniel Webster (R), who has also declared his candidacy for the Speaker of the House, after the resignation of Congressman John Boehner (R).
Judge Lewis has until October 17 to review all the testimony and the seven maps, to make his recommendations to the Florida Supreme Court, who will issue its decision in time to make accommodations for the November 2016 elections. Much is at stake as the State of Florida awaits the decision by the Florida Supreme Court.
