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Jim RosicaNovember 24, 2015

The plaintiffs in the state Senate redistricting case have reshuffled their proposed maps to redraw the state’s 40 senatorial districts, saying they want to “narrow the issues for trial.” Part of their reason was the much-maligned “jumping the Bay,” or districts that cross the water from Hillsborough County into Pinellas County to capture a Democratic […]

Jim RosicaNovember 19, 2015

The plaintiffs in the state Senate redistricting litigation filed six versions of a redrawn district map late Wednesday night, according to an email from their spokeswoman. Despite previous directions against drawing districts that cross Tampa Bay in a congressional redistricting case, their plans include areas that ‘jump the Bay.’ The plaintiffs and the Legislature have now filed proposals for […]

Jim RosicaNovember 18, 2015

In the ongoing saga over state Senate redistricting, everything old is new again. The state Senate on Wednesday disclosed its proposed fix for its gerrymandered districts, a mash-up of two previous maps: One was passed by the Senate, another was drawn but not voted on in the recent Special Session. Because lawmakers couldn’t agree, it’s now […]

Jim RosicaNovember 10, 2015

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Circuit Judge George Reynolds stuck to his guns Tuesday, saying that pre-trial conference and trial dates for a state Senate redistricting challenge were “carved in stone.” Reynolds held a brief case management conference at the Leon County Courthouse, reiterating that Dec. 1 and Dec. 10 would be reserved for pre-trial, with trial remaining on Dec. 14-18. As he […]

Jim RosicaNovember 10, 2015

Despite questions on many parts of the map, the Florida Supreme Court Tuesday focused on South Florida during the final scheduled oral argument in an ongoing congressional redistricting challenge. That inflamed Democratic U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, whose north-south district had been ordered changed by the court to an east-west configuration. That district didn’t get a mention. Brown, wearing […]

Jim RosicaNovember 10, 2015

The outside lawyer for the Florida House of Representatives argued in a legal brief against a set of suggested congressional district boundaries in part by saying there’s no legal requirement “to create the ‘best’ possible districts.” George Meros, a Tallahassee attorney who also represented then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential recount, says the court […]

Peter SchorschNovember 9, 2015

As Douglas Adams wrote in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!” That pretty much describes Florida’s political landscape right now, with a year until Election Day (and, perhaps more astonishingly, just four months to the Presidential Preference Primary). A slew of key state races are as […]

Jim RosicaNovember 5, 2015

The Florida Legislature became the little engine that couldn’t on Thursday, failing to agree on a new map redrawing the state Senate districts after three weeks of trying in a Special Session. This makes three out of four legislative sessions this year that ended in discord, this time in a redistricting session that itself likely […]

Jim RosicaNovember 4, 2015

As the Special Session for Senate redistricting drew to a close, lawmakers were taking time off. On Wednesday, two senators had excused absences and weren’t on the floor as their colleagues OK’d a conference process to finish redrawing the district map. Sen. Maria Sachs, a Delray Beach Democrat, “had a personal commitment” and Sen. Denise Grimsley, a […]

Jim RosicaOctober 27, 2015

The “coalition plaintiffs” in the state Senate redistricting challenge announced Tuesday night they were submitting their own redrawn district map – weeks after the chairman of the chamber’s redistricting panel invited them to participate in the map-making process. The Senate set up its own map on Tuesday for a Wednesday vote, one that combines a version of South Florida districts […]

Tag: special session

Maps shuffled in state Senate redistricting fight

Redistricting plaintiffs come in with six new maps

Senate submits proposed redistricting map

Judge holds to dates for state Senate redistricting trial

Corrine Brown lambastes state Supreme Court over congressional redistricting

House lawyer: Congressional districts don’t need to be perfect

Peter Schorsch: A year out from Election Day in Florida, confusion, uncertainty reign

Senate votes down redistricting map, ending Special Session

As Special Session winds down, lawmakers take off

Plaintiffs now say they’re filing their own Senate district map