Democrats, Trial Lawyers, Unions 'Threaten Hispanic Representation'

Blasting Amendments 5 and 6, Hispanic leaders have formed a steering committee to beat back the so-called FairDistricts initiatives.

Instead of preserving and expanding minority representation in Florida, Amendments 5 and 6 will take aim at Floridas communities of interest and put their representation at risk," said Protect Your Vote National Chairman, U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami.

Raquel Rodriguez, a state co-chairman of the Protect Your Vote Hispanic Steering Committee, added, By excluding the use of data used to keep our communities of interest intact, Amendments 5 and 6 would threaten Hispanic representation around the state. In order to ensure Hispanics have a voice in their government, Floridians must defeat Amendments 5 and 6 in November.

The opposition group attacked FairDistricts, which is heavily bankrolled by Democratic Party supporters, trial lawyers and labor unions. In a statement, the Hispanic leaders stated:

"Contrary to what opponents of Amendments 5 and 6 claim, the amendments restrictions would eliminate most existing minority districts, since they were written before the recent ruling of the Strickland case, which set a precedent prohibiting Florida from drawing districts that favor a minority group if that group is not at least 50 percent of the voting age population."

Since 1992, under GOP-drawn boundaries, three Hispanics have been elected to the U.S. House while representation in the Florida House increased from nine members to 15 members.