Leon County Judge George Reynolds has announced his recommendation for a Senate redistricting map that will now go before the Florida Supreme Court. Reynolds has chosen the map submitted by the plaintiffs, comprised of voters’ rights groups, including the League of Women Voters and Common Cause. In his ruling, he wrote the map drawn by the Senate did indeed seem to favor Republicans. While acknowledging the testimony of Sen Bill Galvano (R), that he had not relied on election data, Reynolds said it was hard to ignore evidence that showed the map tilted towards Republicans and avoiding placing incumbents within the same districts. “It is difficult to infer anything other than impermissible partisan intent in the selection”, wrote Reynolds.
In recommending the plaintiffs’ map Reynolds wrote of their map drawer, a Democratic operative, that he was “credible” and his approach was “logical and effective”. Attorney for the plaintiffs, David King, called the judge’s ruling, “a huge accomplishment for the citizens of Florida”.
The Senate currently controls 26 of the 40 seats in the Florida Senate; the recommended map could actually create four Democratic-leaning Senate seats in South Florida that could be won by Hispanic candidates. As of this writing, it was unclear whether the Florida Senate would appeal the Judge’s decision; however, Sen. Joe Negron (R) said in a statement, “For the last 20 years, voters have elected principled Republicans to serve in the Florida Senate, and I am confident they will continue to support strong Republican candidates. ”
