Tristan Wood
The Leon County Commission voted unanimously to waive its rules and begin drafting a resolution asking the Legislature to protect the state’s minority access congressional districts ahead of the upcoming redistricting Special Session.
The motion, made by Commissioner Kristin Dozier, asks city staff to draft a motion showing the county’s support for protecting Black access congressional districts in the state. Her motion specifically calls for the resolution to back maintaining Florida’s 5th Congressional District, which includes a chunk of the county and is currently held by Rep. Al Lawson.
The Legislature is set to reconvene during a Special Session to finalize the maps after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a map approved by both chambers at the end of Session. DeSantis has been most vocal about the configuration of Lawson’s district. He argues that, as it exists now, it is a racial gerrymander that violates the U.S. Constitution.
During her remarks, Dozier pointed out that CD 5 was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court in 2015. She said the district provides important minority representation to the state that it should not lose, while also providing a strong advocate for the county at the national level.
“I don’t think any of us want to see the voters of Leon County impacted and their representation reduced,” Dozier said.
Prior to the vote, Black Congressional Caucus Executive Director Vincent Evans sent an email to Tallahassee City and Leon County Commissioners to personally ask them to support the resolution and ask the city to bring forward a similar resolution. Evans previously worked as Lawson’s political director, Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson’s aide, as well as in a deputy director role in the office of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Evans wrote that he is dismayed and disappointed by DeSantis’ veto.
“Despite being rejected by the Florida Supreme Court and the Florida Legislature, Gov. DeSantis is insisting on destroying black access seats in Congress. This blatant attack on Congressional Districts 5 (Rep. Al Lawson) & 10 (Rep. Val Demings) is unacceptable. This is nothing more than a blatant attempt to maintain political power at the expense of black Floridians’ voting rights.”
He thanked Dozier for pushing for the resolution. He said having the elected official’s support has never been more important because voting rights are in a crisis moment in the state.
“The truth is, I believe there is a larger effort afoot to dismantle minority access seats across the country. You can simply take the Governor at his word. He is quoted as saying about this redistricting effort, ‘it is designed to potentially lead to a legal challenge of Florida’s redistricting amendments.’ And by extension, I believe he seeks to also challenge what is left of the Voting Right Act of 1965,” Evans wrote.
At least one Tallahassee Commissioner has signaled support for drafting a similar resolution at the city level. Commissioner Jeremy Matlow took to Twitter Monday to say he will ask the City Commission to take a stand as well.
“All elected officials in Tallahassee and Leon County should call foul on this attempt to strip black voters and Leon residents at large of representation in Congress,” Matlow wrote.
I support commissioner’s efforts to defend Leon County’s right to fair representation and will ask the City Commission to take a stand as well.
— Jeremy Matlow (@JeremyMatlowTLH) April 12, 2022
The resolutions, whatever their final forms look like, will likely fall on deaf ears as Legislature leadership has already committed to working off of DeSantis’ maps.
5 comments
Frankie M.
April 13, 2022 at 9:37 am
How is this different from a few years ago when the powers that be re-drew CD5 which went from Jax to Orlando and now is Jax to Tally? I didn’t hear Lawson complaining then. Seems a bit hypocritical now. After all what’s good for me is good for me.
Anonymous
April 14, 2022 at 2:45 pm
The difference is that in 2015 the courts declared the district as previously drawn violated the constitution. It also was clear to the naked eye how gerrymandered that district was (it is the weird blue shape in this image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/2014floridacongressionaldistrictsresults.svg/1200px-2014floridacongressionaldistrictsresults.svg.png). Several miles of the district consisted purely of I-4 without a single resident to connect the two cities.
This current 5th district was drawn by the very same court. They declared, unlike the previous one, that it was constitutional. No court has since said that it is not. You can see with the naked eye that it is not the same bizarre shape and does not have a tract that is solely road, unlike the previous district. It connects communities of interest across North Florida in a much more cohesive and consistent manner.
In 2015, Lawson was also not an elected official in any capacity. He did not represent these voters. These constituents were represented by Corinne Brown, and it was her job to advocate for her constituent’s voting rights. Instead, she asked the legislature to create the bizarrely shaped district that was thrown out. Lawson, now the representative for these communities, has a moral and legal imperative to make sure their voices are heard and their interests represented. If you look back far enough, you will also see that Al Lawson was calling for a minority seat for Florida long before one ever existed. It was one of the first things he fought for in the Florida Legislature.
In short, Lawson did not complain about the new drawing of the district because it was constitutional, unlike the previous one. If the new district had been unconstitutional, he probably would have stood against it. The seat was redrawn because a court said so, not because one man said so. No single person has the authority to say something is unconstitutional, even the Governor of Florida. If the court had said the district was illegal, then this would be the same thing. But they didn’t. Because it isn’t. This is very different.
TONY
April 13, 2022 at 3:00 pm
It is NOT Al Lawson’s District, it is a District that is Represented by Al Lawson. He should have to Work to win the Election like anyone else. If the District is Predominantly Black than YES, a Black will win it every time.
Anonymous
April 14, 2022 at 2:50 pm
The whole point is that Governor DeSantis does not want a predominantly black district. So there will not be a black representative for the district. It isn’t Lawson’s district, but it is a minority district. Minorities should be able to see themselves represented in Congress. Governor DeSantis is trying to do the opposite. I agree, this isn’t about Lawson. It’s about black representation in a country that historically and repeatedly committed abuses against them.
TONY
April 18, 2022 at 3:19 pm
SO, you don’t care if he/she is Qualified, just as long as he/she is Black?
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