The battle over political boundaries is heating up, with Democratic-leaning labor unions and trial attorneys helping to stoke the fire.
Fair Districts Florida, which collected enough signatures to place Amendment 5 on the Nov. 2 ballot, wants to re-engineer how legislative and congressional districts are drawn in the state.
If approved by 60 percent of the voters, the measure would:
- Disallow districts that favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party.
- Ensure racial or language minorities equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice, per the Voting Rights Act.
- Require districts to be contiguous and, unless otherwise required, be compact and make use of existing city, county and geographic boundaries.
"This is critical to connect voters and their representatives," said Deirdre Macnab, president of the Florida League of Women Voters. "Twenty-eight other states have some sort of standards. This will provide guidelines to politicians and the courts."
But, while campaign chairwoman Ellen Freidin maintains that her group is strictly non-partisan, others see a political agenda.
"There's a term, 'BINO,' meaning Bipartisan In Name Only," said Sen. Mike Haridopolos, chairman of the Legislature's Reapportionment Committee.
"Ninety-five percent of their money comes from Democratic groups or groups that support Democratic Party causes," the Merritt Island Republican said.
In fact, the list of donors to Fair Districts reads like a list of Big Labor. Contributors include more than a dozen unions ranging from the Florida Education Association and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to various AFL-CIO and Teamsters locals.
Back in 2007, the group received $25,000 in seed money from ACORN, which has come under fire for its partisan, and questionable, campaign tactics.
While listing a few Republicans backers -- led by Tampa auto dealer Frank Morsani and former Nixon administration official Nat Reed of Jupiter -- Freidin acknowledges that Democrats are more energized for change, and more eager to spend with the GOP holding sizable majorities in the Legislature and the congressional delegation.
"Anyone who depends on Republicans is going to be wary of contributing to this," Freidin acknowledged. "Incumbents want to hold onto power.
"But, this is really about the terrible injustices of the past 80 to 100 years, not handicapping the (campaign) money," she added.
Trial attorneys, another predominantly Democratic support group, are also ponying up for Amendment 5. Several of these firms represented Florida in the state's lawsuit against Big Tobacco (on 25 percent contingencies) and critics say Amendment 5 opens the way to endless legal entanglements.
"I support (Fair Districts) because of my belief that politics and distorted agendas have adversely impacted our fundamental right to fair representation and decayed the elective process," said Steve Yerrid, a Tampa attorney who was among 11 trial lawyers who represented Florida in its lawsuit against the cigarette industry.
"It's the full employment act for lawyers," Haridopolos said. "The 'standards' it sets are nothing more than impediments to drawing boundaries."
Macnab appeared to echo that remark by noting, "The politicians can draw the lines within the rules or we can take them to court."
In comparisons of current boundaries and prospective districts drawn under Amendment 5, the Reapportionment Committee found that Fair Florida's versions were less compact and more sprawling.
"(U.S. Rep.) Corrine Brown's district would be even worse," the Senate president-designate said.
Brown, an African-American Democrat representing the Jacksonville area, and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, are both opposed to Amendment 5.
"Fact is, our lines met all legal challenges back in 2002. Fair Florida's would not," Haridopolos said.
Still, Macnab believes it's time for change.
"I live in Winter Park, which has a population of 25,000, and it has four congressional districts and four legislative districts in it. People don't even know who their representatives are.
"Under the current system, the parties determine who the voters will choose," Macnab said.
House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, remains unmoved by Fair District's claims of non-partisanship.
"It is a stealth agenda funded by the left to do in the courts what they can't do at the ballot box," he said recently. "This is the top priority of Democrats in 2010, and it must be stopped."
Kenric Ward can be reached at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 559-4719.
