Mapmaker for Firm with Democratic Party Ties to Testify in Redistricting Case

The list of witnesses set to testify in the congressional redistricting case is getting long and will include two senators who authored a new congressional map, as well as another mapmaker with ties to the Democratic Party, according to lists submitted by the Florida House and Senate.

On Thursday, the House, Senate and the plaintiffs (including the League of Women Voters and Common Cause) will gather for a hearing in front of Judge Terry Lewis beginning Thursday. Senate Reapportionment Committee chairman Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, will testify in circuit court as will Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, who proposed a map during special session to keep Hillsborough County in one district.

Last week, each party submitted their own map proposals for consideration. One of the Senate maps, authored by Galvano, was Galvano's attempt to compromise with the House on a map, but it was submitted after lawmakers left Tallahassee without reaching any conclusions on which map to use.

Legislative staffers and redistricting experts will also testify in the hearing, along with redistricting expert Allan Lichtman and John O'Neill, a map-maker from Washington, D.C.-based Strategic Telemetry, a consulting firm with Democratic ties. Lawyers for state lawmakers have criticized the plaintiffs' maps for being partisan-based since the Democratic Congressional Caucus Committee reviewed one of their two map proposals before it was submitted for consideration. 

Testimony begins Thursday in Tallahassee.