Jacob Ogles
A federal court has declined to dismiss a racial gerrymandering lawsuit challenging Florida’s Senate map.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled against a motion to dismiss from Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s Office. A court order said after civil rights groups filed suit, attorneys for the state didn’t bother to respond to the central argument in the case.
“Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint, arguing that Plaintiffs have failed to state a plausible vote-dilution claim,” the order reads. “But Plaintiffs don’t bring a vote-dilution claim; they bring a racial-gerrymandering claim.”
The panel includes two Judges, Thomas Barber and Andrew Basher, appointed by former President Donald Trump and another, Charlene Honeywell, appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and firms specializing in civil rights filed a suit on behalf of five residents challenging the Florida Senate map (S 8058) in April. A 31-page complaint alleges that the Florida Legislature illegally packed Black voters into a single Hillsborough-Pinellas County district at the expense of Black voters left at a disadvantage in neighboring seats.
Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for Byrd who also has represented Florida during challenges to its congressional map, last month filed a motion to dismiss the case.
“Plaintiffs have not and cannot state a Fourteenth Amendment claim for vote-dilution,” Jazil wrote.
He also noted that the Florida Supreme Court already approved state legislative maps, which governed the 2022 elections. The state’s high court since 1968 has automatically reviewed maps immediately after the Florida Legislature approves them to ensure compliance with the state constitution and statutes.
Of note, the maps approved in 2022 were the first ever not to draw any legal challenge to their constitutionality during that review.
But ACLU attorneys and other groups challenged whether the Senate map complies with federal law.
Plaintiffs want a change to Senate district lines only in the Tampa Bay region. The lawsuit asks courts to require the Florida Legislature to convene and draw boundaries that comply with state law.
But Plaintiffs did offer a proposed map that has no Senate district spanning the Bay and that offers little disruption to most other districts in the state. Attorneys have asked the court to rule in time for the 2026 elections, when even-numbered Senate seats are up for vote.
The demonstration map would have Senate District 18’s southern borders expanded to cover all of south Pinellas, while the district’s northern border would move south to Bay Drive, and all the way to Walsingham Road west of U.S. 19.
The district is represented now by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, a Republican. But an analysis by MCI Maps suggests that the proposed map could create problems for the incumbent. Analyst Matt Isbell said under the proposed map, 53% of voters in SD 18 supported Democrat Joe Biden over Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election.
As for SD 16, the entire Pinellas portion west of the Bay would be lost, and the district would instead pick up territory south to the Little Manatee River, including parts of Ruskin. But Isbell’s analysis indicates it would remain a Democrat seat where 64% of voters backed Biden in 2020.
The changes would necessitate changes in three other neighboring districts, Senate Districts 20, 21 and 23. Those are all represented now by Republicans: Sens. Jim Boyd, Ed Hooper and Danny Burgess, respectively. Notably, Senate District 14, represented by Republican Sen. Jay Collins, would be unchanged on this map.
10 comments
Josh Green
May 15, 2024 at 2:13 pm
Every Republican you know is a racist piece of garbage.
rick whitaker
May 15, 2024 at 4:00 pm
JOSH, ditto
It's Complicated
May 15, 2024 at 4:09 pm
The pre-2022 Redistricting map contained two Democratic seats in the Tampa Bay area. SD19 was clearly designed for a Black Senator (held by Rouson [D]), and SD24 was a swing seat, winnable – but not a lock for a Democrat (held by Cruz [D]).
The 2022 maps are VERY similar to the previous maps with the new SD16 (still held by Rouson [D]) approximating the old SD19, and the new SD18 (held by DiCeglie [R]) approximating the old SD24. The new SD18 is rated R+1, so it is still a swing seat.
Do the plaintiffs believe there are enough Black voters on the west side of Tampa Bay for two Black candidates to win Senate Seats in the area, or is the hope to change the swing SD18 from R+ to D+, with the notion that they’ll take any Democrat in the seat? It’s not clear how they hope to satisfy or remedy the Black voters they believe to be disenfranchised, given it was not a Black seat previously. Do they believe the FairDistricts Amendment assures minority voters that someone who looks like them is going to represent them? Case law from this one could backfire for whoever is funding the plaintiffs.
rick whitaker
May 15, 2024 at 4:39 pm
IT’S COMPLICATED ,once again, you have flapped your jaws and not said a thing. i guess, your point is that you are a racist, you have talked, but not said anything. yeah, i would say it is safe to say, since i have read many of your posts, that you are a white christian nationalist maga cultist. so your mumbo jumbo on gerrymandering in florida, is just that, mumbo jumbo. i hope your sunday school students like you, because i can’t stand you.
It's Complicated
May 16, 2024 at 8:51 am
Sorry that was too deep for you, rick.
Bottom line: The plaintiffs know full well what they claim to be pursuing is not possible, and are not honest enough to say they just want the seat to be more competitive for a Democratic Party candidate.
MH/Duuuval
May 16, 2024 at 5:49 pm
Black continues to = Democrat; R more than ever = white racism. And we can all agree that today’s white racists won’t fess up to it like their predecessors.
Sounds to me like Jazil misfired, but. I’m not an attorney. I do follow these cases because vote dilution and gerrymandering are such a large part of the MAGA/GOP playbook and permeate every level of government in Florida today. This is how the permanent minority party can gain and hold political power their numbers don’t merit..
rick whitaker
May 16, 2024 at 10:46 pm
IT’S COMPLICATED, i don’t at all recall saying the issue was too deep for me. i said i thought you were subjective and biased in you description of the issue. i still think you are full of yourself, have an ego issue, lack self-esteem, or whatever your problem is. i would bet that it is connected to your, take it on faith in jesus lie. you said ” the plaintiffs weren’t honest”, that to me proves my point.
It's Complicated
May 17, 2024 at 10:18 am
rick, given that you don’t address the contents of the story, or how my comments relate to the story, I can only assume you know don’t understand how district lines are drawn. There is readily available software that allows interested parties to ‘drag and drop’ district lines for every imaginable type of political district (can be used for marketing purposes, too). This software will instantly calculate relevant demographics of a new district, and adjust adjoining districts accordingly. The political parties have this software, as do he Democratic and Republican Offices of the Florida House and Senate, political consultants, lawyers, journalists, and the USDOJ (to look for violations of the Voting Rights Act), and all of them spend thousands of hours tinkering with it for their purposes. The plaintiffs in this case claim to be seeking another Black minority access seat on the west side of Tampa Bay, but the demographics do NOT support that assertion. In my initial post, I support this statement, so I won’t repeat it.
Either the plaintiffs have entered this lawsuit without that data (which is hard to imagine), or they are hoping to win the case on an emotional appeal, without using supporting data, or it is all a PR gimmick seeking free press and they know they have little chance of prevailing. That is where I draw the conclusion the plaintiffs are not honest in their claims, because it is unimaginable they would file a lawsuit in a Federal Court without having tinkered with the maps themselves. They won’t be able to support that claim in front of a panel of judges when the defendants and intervenors break out the drag and drop software to rebuff them. There are simply not enough Black voters on the west side of Tampa Bay to create another Black minority access Senate district. They can take some Black voters who live on the west side of Tampa Bay out of Rouson’s district (the bulk of which is on the east side of Tampa Bay), but it will NOT be enough to create another minority access district, though it may be enough to make it a D+ district.
I do not know what would happen to Rouson’s district if they took all the Black voters from the west side of Tampa Bay out, but IF it would cause his district to cease to perform as a minority access district, Rouson would be the one justifiably filing a lawsuit.
rick whitaker
May 17, 2024 at 3:24 pm
IT’S COMPICATED, thanks for the software lesson. i graduated from electronics school in 1975, then i worked in the electronic/computer industry for ten years. now that you have schooled me, i know what software and data analysis is. just one point, your pr gimmick, is not my pr gimmick. so your definition is right and mine is wrong, yeah,…..right, whatever. you christians got an answer for everything, if someone accepts your definitions.
Dont Say FLA
May 16, 2024 at 12:38 pm
A legal challenge that bad must be the work of Florida’s dyamic, dewwwwww-oh, Rhonda and Astley, yet again pRick Rolling the taxpayers.
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