Florida's new 'dummymandered' congressional map is still in play
News and commentary for Floridians and other Americans concerned about the future of fair elections in our democracy
By J.C. Bruce
You have to look very closely at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redrawn map of Florida’s congressional districts to find even the tiniest speck of blue.
And that was the point.
DeSantis and the Republicans controlling the state Legislature, which approved the redistricting, made no bones about it—the entire point was to wipe out as many Democrats representing Florida in Congress as possible.
There’s a reason why DeSantis paraded his creation on Fox News before even showing it to state legislators who would ultimately approve it: He was looking for a pat on the back from Donald Trump, who has insisted Republican-dominated states like Florida improve the odds of his party’s control of Congress in the midterm elections.
Never mind that in the split between Republicans and Democrats in Florida, were the map reflective of those proportions, there would be at least 11 so-called “safe” Democratic seats instead of the four that DeSantis, try as he might, couldn’t quite erase.
Obviously, it is a political stunt. And, just as obviously, it is a violation of the Fair Districts amendments to the state’s Constitution enacted to thwart these sorts of shenanigans.
Which is why immediately after DeSantis signed his atrocious map into law, lawsuits were filed,
Those ended up in the court of a DeSantis appointee, Circuit Judge Joshua M. Hawkes, who, after more than a week following the initial hearing, finally got around to ruling against putting the new map on hold.
His argument: He had to weigh “the lesser of two evils.”
The previous map, in which Democrats managed to scrape out eight of the state’s 28 districts, was unconstitutional because it was designed to allow minorities to have a voice in the House of Representatives, the state argued.
Can’t have that.
The new map, while indisputably partisan, was, in Hawkes’ mind, the lesser evil.
The clock is ticking. Candidates for Congress can begin filing their qualifying paperwork in just a few days with a final deadline of June 12. So, time is running short for an appeal, which the plaintiffs say is coming.
“Because Floridians of all political backgrounds are so clearly against partisan gerrymandering, we will exhaust all legal options to make sure a map this partisan does not last the rest of this decade,” Amy Keith, executive director of Common Cause Florida, one of the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
Even if we are stuck with these new districts because the clock runs out, there’s hope this could backfire on Republicans—here in Florida and elsewhere.
As House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries noted:
“If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummymander, the Florida Republicans are going to find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now ... The Republicans are dummymandering their way into the minority before a single vote is cast.”
Meaning that DeSantis, in his zealousness, may have sufficiently weakened what were once Republican strongholds during his map-making to the point they are no longer assured of victory.
Nice thought.
Meanwhile, don’t strain your eyes trying to find those blue dots on the map.
Resources:
Legislature reconvenes and aims to gut Democrats’ representation in Congress
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J.C. Bruce
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De dumbass and his wife belong in prison. They have misappropriated so much money. I am voting blue all the way down the ballot
Your article today has enforced my belief that our State and Federal laws are being abandoned by Judges and Politicians in favor of self interest and pandering to a select few of delusional officials who are in office. This quote by Circuit Judge Joshua M. Hawkes, that he had to weigh “the lesser of two evils.” is an obvious personal opinion and not based on any legal precedent. It is hard to believe that our country’s constitutional rights are being so blatantly ignored. We must vote and show that we are morally and intellectually smarter than those who represent us.