The Republican Party of Florida says Democrats are playing politics with the state's process to redraw voting districts to accommodate a growing population -- districts that were approved in the House in a party-line vote Friday.
Nearly one-third of House members would have to square off against a fellow incumbent in the fall unless they seek to run for a different district or office if the new districts are eventually approved and survive expected court challenge.
Our leadership should be commended for avoiding, not falling prey to, this partisanship that the Democrats seem to be willing to be a part of, said RPOF spokesman Brian Hughes.
As an example, Hughes noted that Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich, D-Sunrise, and Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith worked on maps, even though they were eventually not submitted for consideration.
Still, Hughes says, Its hard to imagine that all the lines today, whatever theyre considering, will make it all the way to the end given all the different voices that will weigh in before the thing is over.
House Democrats are banking on the courts challenging the new congressional and legislative lines that were set using voter-approved redistricting rules Friday."
Democrats, meanwhile, openly admit their strategy during the two days of debate on the proposed lines was a tactic aimed at setting up a line of questioning for the courts to dispute the maps.
We werent trying to set legal arguments, we were just trying to say, 'What was your intent? How did this redistricting process work?' and the lawyers will pick and choose where they think the challenge should come from, House Minority Leader Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, said Friday. Thats why you didnt see a lot of debate today. Our main effort was in the questions."
The maps now go before the Senate next week for approval before heading to Gov. Rick Scott. The legislative map, SJR 1176, requires approval from the Florida Supreme Court. The congressional map, SJR 1174, requires preclearance from the U.S. Justice Department under the federal Voting Rights Act.
For most of the seven hours of discussion on Thursday and Friday, House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, and Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, had to defend the maps against repeated inquiries into the thinking behind the new lines, and Democrats' charges that they were drawn primarily to protect the Republican majority incumbents.
Weatherford jumped on the Democrats for debating to score legal points rather than questioning the merits of the maps.
If youre pushing the red button (indicating a no vote) because an attorney told you to, I cant respect that, Weatherford said.
The maps are the first to follow the 2010 Fair Districts amendments, which seek boundary lines along government and natural boundaries where possible, while prohibiting lawmakers from redrawing the districting lines in favor of any particular incumbent or party. A hitch to anti-gerrymandering effort is the requirement to protect minority voting rights in historically minority-majority districts.
The new rules alone are expected to cause the courts and federal officials to take a hard look at the lines.
I hope the courts approve them as passed, Cannon said.There are multiple standards to assess to federal and state law, and well just have to see what they do.
At least seven congressional incumbents could wind up outside their current district. U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, and U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, have already announced plans to relocate in order to run in the fall.
For Democrats, the issue is that the districts will remain politically advantageous to the Republican majority, while registered voters in the state stand at 40.5 percent Democrat and 36.2 percent Republican.
Rep. Perry Thurston, D-Plantation, said the courts may find fault with the new Senate lines that bolster the districts of all incumbents that may seek re-election in the fall.
Ultimately, the thinking is maybe the maps will come back to us and well follow the will of the people, Thurston said.
However, Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Palm Harbor, a co-chair of the Redistricting Committee, called the map-creation process, which includes a series of statewide public hearings last summer, the most open, transparent and bipartisan in history.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
