Associated Press
Beginning on Thursday morning, a Florida judge will try to sort out the political mess left because of squabbling over the state’s 27 congressional districts.
The Florida Supreme Court in July ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw the state’s congressional districts after finding the current map violated standards adopted by voters.
But the House and Senate deadlocked over the issue during an August special session.
Circuit Judge Terry Lewis will hold a trial where he will consider seven different maps.
Lewis is expected to recommend one of the proposals to the state Supreme Court for final approval.
Three maps have been proposed by the House and Senate. The other four proposals were submitted by the groups that sued the Legislature.
If adopted, the proposed maps could lead to the possible ouster of several incumbents in Congress.
For example, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham’s political future is in question because the court ordered Congresswoman Corrine Brown‘s district, which now runs north-south from Jacksonville from Sanford, to be redrawn “in an east-west manner.”
That stretches it into what is now Graham’s 2nd Congressional District in the Big Bend and Panhandle, potentially taking away Graham’s Democratic base in Leon and Gadsden counties.
The Supreme Court court told Lewis to hear from all sides and “then make a recommendation to (this) Court … as to which map proposed by the parties – or which portions of each map – best fulfills the specific directions (of) the Court … and all constitutional requirements.”
The justices made clear that its decision on the map will be binding and final.
“The Court notes that the judiciary sometimes must adopt a redistricting plan when the Legislature fails or is unable to do so, as previously occurred in Florida in 1992,” the court’s order said.
The Supreme Court threw out the current map after a two-year-long court challenge by The League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause and a group of Democratic-leaning voters.
The court held that the lines broke a state constitutional prohibition against “gerrymandering,” the manipulation of political boundaries to favor a particular incumbent or party — in this case, Republicans.
Jim Rosica contributed to this post.
