Ryan Ray
More than half of Florida’s 27 members of the U.S. House of Representatives called on leaders in the state Legislature to “conduct redistricting hearings across our great State” in a letter dated Thursday.
In a missive addressed to Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, the bipartisan group of congressmen and congresswomen — including Democratic Senate candidate Alan Grayson and DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz as well as Republican U.S. Reps. Carlos Curbelo and Ileana Ros Lehtinen — particularly stressed the effect the forthcoming changes to district boundaries could have on legally protected minorities.
“The opportunity to be heard is particularly important for African American and Latino communities whose representation and voting power will be impacted by redistricting,” wrote the group, most of whom will see changes to their districts stemming from the Florida Supreme Court’s decision in League of Women Voters v. Detzner, et al.
“Anything less would be a travesty since the goal is fair representation for all of Florida’s citizens.”
With recent news that a state trial court has called for all maps and legal challenges to be completed by Sept.22, the heat is on now for state lawmakers, wrote the group, who twice called their request an “urgent matter.”
“The deadline is quickly approaching and action is needed immediately.”
See the full text of the congressional letter here, as hosted by the Miami Herald.
