A.G. Gancarski
Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to sound optimistic that the Legislature would give him a congressional map he likes during this month’s Special Session.
The Governor, addressing reporters in Brevard County, sounded upbeat in saying that all parties likely could agree on a product even though he vetoed the map approved by the Legislature in March.
“I told them they were running into a veto, and they passed it. It’s their prerogative. But obviously I followed through on my word on that,” DeSantis said.
The Governor alluded to lawsuits filed accusing Florida of malapportionment because of a lack of ratified congressional districts, saying that “clearly, we have the responsibility to work with the Legislature to do it.”
“You can’t just let a court draw this,” DeSantis said, “and I think there’s broad agreement with that.”
DeSantis expects that the map will be “done, that it will be done efficiently, and hopefully it will be something that I will sign very quickly, and then we can just kind of move on with the election.”
DeSantis noted that the state Senate and House maps, over which he has no oversight, are already in place.
“This is kind of the only one question mark remaining,” DeSantis said. “And I think that they’re going to be able to resolve it, and we’ll move forward.”
DeSantis discussed the maps Thursday as well, strongly suggesting it would be in the interest of the Legislature to pass maps that perform like the ones his administration’s General Counsel drew, 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,” DeSantis said Thursday in Ponte Vedra.
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.
7 comments
marcus
April 1, 2022 at 5:05 pm
Gov. Ron; keep them in Tally until they use their brains (assuming they have one), and until they get it right.
The Florida drop
April 1, 2022 at 7:27 pm
That’s like asking one of you to stay on a ride at Orlando without falling lol
RonDeSantisSucks
April 2, 2022 at 3:28 am
The legislature didn’t do anything wrong here. Governor DeSantis is just being a dipshit.
The.Truth.Comes.Out.In.The.End
April 2, 2022 at 7:13 pm
‘You can’t just let a court draw this.’
Yep. Gov. D- knows if the courts decide this, he loses. Well actually, the court will most likely decide this anyway… It has to meet the rules of the Florida Constitution.
nononsense
April 3, 2022 at 12:27 pm
It needs to meet the rules of the US constitution. The argument is that the state constitutional amendment violates the US constitution. The supremacy clause of the constitution means the US constitution wins whenever there is a conflict. That said, the district that Desantis wants to split up clearly violates the Florida and US constitutions already. It is a blatantly obvious example of gerrymandering that has been allowed to go on for far too long. It is absurd to have a district span such a massive area of the state, in order to connect two major cities, and thereby give one party an advantage. Both the state and federal constitutions prohibit this sort of activity.
Matthew Lusk
April 3, 2022 at 3:03 pm
Very well said. It will most likely go to the Supreme Court of the United States. Segregating out a stretched out district corralling a race is obviously discriminatory. The Florida Supreme Court Erred when it dropped the ball on race based districts. It is unconstitutional to pointedly use genetic markers to draw a district. If a compact district shakes out with a minority majority, there is no violation. But since race was pointedly used to draw the district, it is a violation. If candidates would rise above race favor and show they can work for all Gods children, there is no bonified reason to even notice race.
Comment
April 3, 2022 at 4:03 pm
Considering parliament being sold and bought like commonly known as slavery. This is different
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