TAMPA, Fla. — It took the Florida legislature one second to do what decades of court orders, lawsuits and amendments tried to stop: drawing voting maps with the intent to favor one political party.
At the center of the controversy is District 5, which stretches from Jacksonville along the panhandle. It is a space where Black communities elected Black leaders to represent them. But under the new map, District 5 is now broken up into four districts and drawn in such a way that the Black vote is now the clear minority.
This map was drawn by Governor DeSantis and approved by the Republican legislature, and the impacts go far beyond the panhandle. The Governor’s plan wipes away half the state’s Black-majority congressional districts.
DeSantis defended the new boundaries, arguing that the old map unfairly guaranteed a Black-dominated district.
Political analysts said the goal of redistricting is to help your party, no matter if you are a red or blue state.
“Almost always these days when you redistrict, you draw them in a way that your party will be better," ABC News political director Rick Klein said. "In states where legislators have that power, we have seen them press that advantage. Democrats have done it. Republicans have done it. It’s hard to judge who’s been worse, depends on the state and the year."
But if politics are supposed to be the art of compromise, then drawing voting districts has become the science of demographics. It’s not just Florida or the Republicans who are doing it.
“We saw in New York a very aggressive Democratic effort went so far that the court threw it out and ended up backfiring on the Democrats," Klein said. "We saw Democrats taking advantage in Illinois. We saw Republicans try to take advantage in places where they control the legislature but not necessarily the governorship. They saw it in North Carolina, in Tennessee."
The practice of drawing voter boundaries, called “gerrymandering,” is almost as old as the country itself. In fact, it was named after the Governor of Massachusetts in 1812.
But in 2022, a time of so much political division, the power play by Governor DeSantis in Florida could pay off far beyond the state’s borders.
“As you know, there’s a lot of skepticism in the legislature about going as far as DeSantis did, but they got it done even if it ends up being tossed out in a future cycle," Klein said. "The power of incumbency means a lot, and it might be the gains the Democrats won elsewhere in the country were wiped out."
The maps are in effect for this year’s midterms, but they are being challenged in court.
The League of Women Voters of Florida is among the groups suing DeSantis and the state to stop the maps, arguing they violate the law and are unconstitutional. The legal outcome won’t be determined until long after the election is over.
“It would be an interesting theory if they try to appeal it into the federal system and into the United States Supreme Court," League of Women Voters of Florida president Cecile Scoon said. "Right now, this is on track to be tried in state court and then the appeal would go through the state court system."
“The bottom line is, elections have consequences… Republicans run the legislature and they are going to get their maps,” Strategic Image Management founder Anthony Pedicini said.
Meanwhile, before the lawsuit moves forward, the latest legal fight is about what evidence will be allowed and who will be allowed to testify.
The DeSantis administration is trying to block the release of documents sought by the plaintiffs. That could shed light on how the maps were drawn and whether they violated the law.
