Leaders are drawing district lines that will trample voters’ interests
Floridians don’t appreciate seeing their electoral authority sliced up and diminished to feed the ambitions of power-hungry politicians. They made that crystal-clear in 2010, when they approved a pair of amendments that require the state Legislature to treat them fairly when drawing district lines for Florida’s congressional seats and the state House and Senate.
And when House and Senate leaders embarked on the once-a-decade task of re-apportioning Florida’s districts, they promised they’d respect voters’ wishes, shut out outside influences and draw lines that fairly represent the state’s population. Well, so much for promises. As redistricting plans coalesce, it’s becoming increasingly clear that Florida’s leaders are hell-bent on playing partisan games that divide up pools of voters as if they were spoils of war. In a state where Republicans and Democrats post nearly equal numbers and a growing pool of voters identify as non-partisan, the GOP-led House and Senate are presenting maps that stack the deck in favor of Republicans. And as Florida hurtles toward a benchmark in which the majority of the state’s residents are members of racial or language minorities, leaders are proposing lines that (at best) are likely to keep Latino and Black representation at 2010 levels.
And that’s before Gov. Ron DeSantis got involved, by throwing out his own proposed map of congressional districts that would shift the balance of power even more sharply in favor of Republicans and Caucasians. DeSantis didn’t just evade the clear language of the Florida Constitution; he trampled it underfoot — first by asserting authority where he has none, and then by proposing district lines that are brutally, nakedly partisan. His plan would favor Republicans in 18 of Florida’s 28 congressional seats (including the seat that Florida picked up after the 2020 Census) and reduce opportunities for minority candidates.
To their credit, members of the Senate stood up to DeSantis’ bullying move. The map they approved Thursday still disproportionately favors Republicans (giving them the advantage in 16 of 28 congressional districts and creating a clear path to keep control of the Senate) and fails to adequately acknowledge the rapid growth of minority voters, particularly those of Hispanic heritage. But it’s not nearly as warped as the governor’s plan.
In addition, the governor’s plan — transmitted under the name of his general counsel — doesn’t say whether his proposed lines were influenced by any outside groups or consultants. This also makes the Senate and House plans look better than they deserve: While legislative leaders resisted meddling from external partisan strategists, they also failed to give members of the public the opportunity to talk directly to lawmakers about the impact of the new district lines without traveling to Tallahassee. In a press conference Thursday, Latino leaders from around the state lamented the lack of public access — and the fact that none of the redistricting records were available in Spanish.
A wide coalition of good-government advocates, including the League of Women Voters and Common Cause, say they’re dismayed and discouraged by the planned manipulation of voters’ ability to elect people who truly represent their interests.
Floridians have the right to expect their elected representatives — no matter what party allegiance they profess — to respect democracy above their own political self-interest. Lawmakers are barely paying lip service to their wishes, and DeSantis is ignoring them. It’s a disservice to the voters who handed them the keys to power in the first place — and who are now being treated like scraps to be fought over.