U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., says she will run for reelection after all, despite her congressional district being redrawn last year.
Just this week, a group of federal judges rejected Brown’s lawsuit alleging the newly-redrawn congressional districts violate the Federal Voting Rights Act and unfairly disadvantage minority voters.
“I am very disappointed in the Federal court’s decision earlier this week,” Brown said in a statement released Wednesday. "Although I still maintain that the new congressional districts will be severely disadvantageous to minorities throughout the state of Florida, I intend to declare my candidacy for the newly drawn Congressional District Five of Florida."
Brown’s candidacy has already caused one other candidate for CD 5 to drop out of the race. Rep. Mia Jones, D-Jacksonville, has already said she would forego running for the seat since Brown will be running for reelection.
Other candidates vying for Brown’s seat may follow suit.
Brown’s fight against the new congressional lines hasn’t necessarily ended despite the court’s latest decision. She has not yet decided whether she will appeal the ruling.
"With respect to the redistricting lawsuit, I am still mulling my options, and am reviewing the ruling with Rep. John Conyers (the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee), as well as with Attorney William Sheppard and his legal team in Jacksonville,” Brown said.
The Florida Congresswoman has been one of the most outspoken voices on redistricting since the Florida Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to redraw Florida’s congressional lines last year.
She filed suit over the new congressional lines in her district, which run all the way from Jacksonville west to Tallahassee, claiming it was impossible for an African-American to win in the new district.
Brown’s former district ran from Jacksonville to Orlando and was the result of another redistricting battle waged 20 years ago. She has served in that seat since 1992.
Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2010 forbidding state lawmakers from drawing districts to favor incumbents or a member of a political party.
The Florida Supreme Court ordered Florida lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional and Senate lines last year after several government watchdog groups accused Republican lawmakers of violating the state constitution by gerrymandering congressional lines for their own political gain.
The state’s new congressional lines will have a significant impact on the state’s current political landscape. For example, U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham, who currently represents a heavily Democratic district, would have her district redrawn to lines which would heavily favor a Republican candidate.
Graham, a relative political newcomer, has refused to decide whether she will run for a second term as a result of the redistricting lawsuit. She currently has until June 24 to decide whether she will make another run for her seat in Congress.
Reach reporter Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com or follow her on Twitter: @AllisonNielsen.
