Scott Powers
Saying she is following on President Barack Obama‘s plea in his State of the Union speech to end gerrymandering, Democratic congressional candidate Susannah Randolph said Thursday she’s launching a petition effort to end the practice nationally.
Randolph, running in the Orlando-based Congressional District 9, said she has begun a petition gathering effort calling for an end to gerrymandering.
In his speech, Obama called for an end to gerrymandering, the strategy of drawing congressional districts to favor one party or the other. Florida has adopted its own ban, the 2010 Fair Districts Amendment to the Florida Constitution. The court battles over that ended just last month, resulting in court-ordered boundaries of all of Florida’s congressional districts, including Randolph’s.
Also, the theme was picked up before Obama’s speech when U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson — Randolph’s estranged former boss and the incumbent in CD 9 — introduced a bill in Congress mirroring Florida’s amendment, to ban gerrymandering.
Grayson is not seeking re-election to his House seat but is running for the U.S. Senate instead. Randolph has plenty of competition for the Democratic nomination to replace Randolph, notably state Sen. Darren Soto of Orlando and Grayson’s significant other, Dr. Dena Minning.
“Countless voting rights activists and average citizens had to battle Florida politicians for years to get Fair Districts in Florida, but with the court’s help, we finally did it,” Randolph stated in her campaign’s news release. “I”m ecstatic to see President Obama give this issue the national spotlight it needs.”
Wednesday morning Democratic National Committee member Nancy Jacobson applauded Randolph’s petition effort. Jacobson was a leader in the Fair Districts fight in Florida.
“I know that Susannah Randolph will bring the fight for fairly drawn districts to Congress,” she stated in the release. “I know she cares as much about this fight as we all do.”
