Testimony on the congressional mapmaking process began Thursday morning in Tallahassee as staffers from the House of Representatives were grilled on how they created sets of maps to alter the lines of Florida’s congressional districts.
The testimony is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute over which congressional maps will ultimately be accepted and implemented in the Sunshine State.
In July, the Florida Supreme Court ruled the Florida Legislature would have to redraw eight congressional districts after the court found the state’s congressional districts were the result of unconstitutional gerrymandering by the Republican-led state Legislature.
State lawmakers headed back to Tallahassee to try to hammer out a new map adhering to the Florida Supreme Court’s guidelines, but the two chambers were unable to reach an agreement on which map to bring to the Florida Supreme Court.
As a result, the Florida Supreme Court directed 2nd Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis to take maps from both the plaintiffs as well as the Legislature and determine which one was most suitable to submit to the Supreme Court for final review. Lewis now has to review seven maps, three from the House and Senate and four from the plaintiffs, to make a final decision.
Thursday’s hearing began on a rather heated note, with attorneys for the plaintiffs arguing with attorneys for the state Legislature over whether or not there was partisan intent in the mapmaking process.
Attorneys for the House contended that legislative staffers did not have any partisan intent when drawing up the base maps from which the House and Senate crafted their individual maps.
“The evidence is going to show not a shred of proof that political intent affected any of the base map,” said House lawyer George Meros. “When the House made improvements to the base map in the light of day, all it did was add to the metrics of the map.”
Attorneys for the Florida Legislature say the maps put forth by the plaintiffs have been tainted with partisan intent because the Democratic Congressional Caucus Committee reviewed their map submission before it was sent to the Florida Supreme Court, but attorneys for the plaintiffs denied speaking to the DCCC while crafting their map.
Attorneys grilled House staffer Jason Poreda, who worked with other staffers to draw up the base maps, for several hours during the first day of testimony.
Poreda described a closed-off process in which he and fellow staffers sat in a room to draw up the base maps. Mapmakers were the only ones with keys to the room and their discussions were not recorded, adding to a “sterilized” environment free from any potential outside influences.
Poreda said there were issues with one of the maps proposed by the coalition plaintiffs, specifically pointing to issues with the drawing of CD 26 and CD 27. Under the CP1 map, Poreda said it would be incredibly difficult for a Hispanic to be elected in CD 26, which is currently represented by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla.
“I believe that is a significant problem,” he told Judge Lewis.
Attorneys also heard from Jeff Takacs, a House staffer who helped create House maps in 2012 and during the redistricting process.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs honed in on whether or not staffers knew of the racial and party makeup of the district lines in the individual maps, grilling witnesses for hours on the specifics of the process.
Takacs said staffers knew they had to keep Homestead whole as part of the Florida Supreme Court ruling, but also explained mapmakers had no intentions to favor or disfavor any specific political party when they drew congressional lines as set forth in the House maps.
“We assessed [the maps] to make sure to allow the Hispanic community to elect a candidate of their choice,” he told the court about CD 26 and CD 27.
Judge Lewis will hear testimony from Sens. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and Tom Lee, R-Brandon as well as mapmaker John O’Neill, a mapmaker for Washington, D.C.-based Strategic Telemetry, a consulting firm with ties to the Democratic Party.
Testimony continues Friday at 9 a.m.
Reach Allison Nielsen by email at allison@sunshinestatenews.com
