Eric Lynn will continue his campaign in CD 13 regardless of new map

Pinellas County Democrat Eric Lynn says he’s staying in the race for the seat in Florida’s 13th Congressional District. He’s also hoping the courts will step in and stop Gov. Ron DeSantis’ controversial congressional cartography.

“I refuse to let this illegal and unconstitutional map stand without a fight, and I will be running in Florida 13 regardless of what the lines are,” Lynn said. “I am a lifelong native of Pinellas, graduate of Pinellas County Public Schools, send my kids to Pinellas County Public Schools, and I am running to represent the people of Pinellas and our shared values in Washington.”

Democrats hold the CD 13 seat and have since 2016, when U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist defeated incumbent Republican Rep. David Jolly. Crist this year is running for Governor instead of for re-election.

But a new map just signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis substantially reconfigures Tampa Bay. While CD 13 remains contained within Pinellas County, Downtown St. Petersburg and many Democratic portions of the old district end up in Florida’s 14th Congressional District, which is represented by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat.

The end result for CD 13? The district goes from one where Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election by 4 percentage points to a seat Republican Donald Trump won by 7 points.

That’s as good an indication as any, Lynn said, that the map indeed violates the Fair District amendment to Florida’s Constitution that voters approved in 2010.

“The maps Gov. DeSantis drew and the Legislature recently approved are in clear violation of the Florida Constitution, which states ‘No apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent,’” Lynn said, citing the language in the amendment.

“It also includes an incomprehensible disregard of the 2015 State Supreme Court ruling where a district connecting Pinellas and Hillsborough only across the Tampa Bay was thrown out by the courts and forced to be redrawn.”

The Fair Districts amendment of the state constitution in 2015 led the Florida Supreme Court to toss a map approved by the Legislature in 2012. The redraw eliminated a Tampa Bay-crossing district similar to the new CD 14 and produced a more competitive CD 13, paving the way for Crist’s victory in 2016.

Lynn’s campaign team also made clear to Florida Politics that the open CD 13 seat is the only one where Lynn has considered campaigning. Lynn’s spokesperson denied the candidate had entertained a Primary challenge to Castor.

He currently faces state Reps. Ben Diamond and Michele Rayner-Goolsby in a Democratic Primary. Lynn boasts the most cash on hand as of the end of March, with almost $948,000 compared to Diamond’s almost $790,000 and Rayner’s $221,000.