A.G. Gancarski
In a visit to the Jacksonville market Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was unambiguous in communicating his expectations about the upcoming Special Session.
Legislators are charged with drawing the once-a-decade congressional redistricting map, and after the Governor vetoed a product he didn’t like earlier this month, he laid down some expectations for the legislative meetings commencing Apr. 19.
“I think the Legislature’s going to pass something that will get my signature,” DeSantis said, responding to a question from WJXT’s Jim Piggott.
“At the end of the day, we were very clear about what the Legislature was doing, that that would not get my signature. I think that there was a belief, a mistaken belief that somehow I didn’t mean what I said,” DeSantis said.
“Guys, I mean what I say,” he emphasized. “And so we ended up in this position. And so pass something that will get my signature.”
DeSantis signaled proposals from his own Governor’s Office as ones that earn his signature, maps that take aim at a traditional minority access district (MAD) in North Florida.
“Those will get my signature. If they depart from that, we’ll see. But we know certain things can get my signature.”
“At the end of the day,” DeSantis added, “it’s in everybody’s best interest to do something, get a product done, and just move on with the election season.”
One particular issue is what happens to Florida’s 5th Congressional District, a MAD represented by Rep. Al Lawson extending from Gadsden to Duval Counties.
DeSantis’ General Counsel put forth maps that would eliminate CD 5, which protects the interests of Black voters in North Florida by connecting Jacksonville and Tallahassee in what he has said is an “unconstitutional gerrymander.”
The Governor’s map would essentially take Duval County’s part of Lawson’s district and meld it with Clay and Nassau counties, creating a seat with a Republican advantage.
DeSantis seeks to press the GOP advantage in ways the Legislature did not want to during Session: The Legislature’s primary map (H 8019) and the backup maps (H 8015), vetoed by DeSantis, both have 18 districts won by Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 election and 10 won by Democrat Joe Biden. The Governor’s last map had 20 Trump districts and eight where Biden won.
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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report.
4 comments
Frankie M.
March 31, 2022 at 2:49 pm
Ronnie was also overheard saying, “What’s good for me is good for me.”
Antonio
March 31, 2022 at 3:24 pm
Serious question: Are as upset when Democrats do the same or worse, as they just did in Maryland and New York? District mapping is certainly a messy process and when you see the maps as they are, they don’t make a whole lot of sense. But both parties do redistricting as they see fit if they have the majority at the time. This idea that it’s only bad when Republicans do it is unrealistic and silly.
One Man One Vote
April 1, 2022 at 11:48 am
A judge just threw out New York’s map for Democratic gerrymandering. Time to get the courts out of the process.
matthew Lusk
April 1, 2022 at 10:41 am
When will Black Americans wake up to the fact that Al Lawson is a black conman. He sells out his on race to the international labor pool, white nazi banking cartel, atheist marxist, and supports the murder of black babies kept unfrozen at unPlanned Prenancyhood to sell for medical experiments and anti-clonal production, not to mention the fact Al supports sodomy , raising taxes, and was the earliest supporter of the Biden influence peddling crime family and that Cackling California Concubine and Existential Retard Harris. The banking cartel loves north florida I-Con-Man, Al Lawson, the sell-out in congressional district 5.
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