TAMPA, Florida — A Florida appeals court decision recently gave Gov. Ron DeSantis a victory in the fight to maintain the state's redrawn congressional map.
The decision on Friday overruled a state judge's ruling in an 8-2 vote arguing the Florida Legislature didn’t violate the state constitution when it approved congressional maps pushed by DeSantis.
Plaintiffs are filing suit both in the state and federal courts arguing that redistricting diminishes Black voter representation. The redrawn map divided District 2 and all but eliminated District 5 in North Florida, a seat held by Democrat Rep. Al Lawson, a Black congressman.
Those against the redistricting also argue it led to the election of four more Republicans into the U.S. House during the Midterm elections.
A state judge previously ruled the redistricting plan violated the state constitution and prohibited it from being used for any future U.S. congressional elections until now.
DeSantis argued that the federal Constitution doesn’t allow race to be considered in drawing congressional maps and that the district didn’t adhere to requirements that it be compact. Lawson’s district stretched about 200 miles from downtown Jacksonville west to rural Gadsden County along the Georgia border.
Voting rights groups had argued the new map was unconstitutional because it dismantled a district where Black citizens made up nearly half the registered voters.
The appeals court agreed with DeSantis that a district can’t be drawn to connect two Black communities that otherwise have no connection.
The appeals court wrote in part:
"Nothing in the record describes who the Black voters are as members of a meaningful community—nothing about a shared history or shared socio-economic experience among the Black voters in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and other areas throughout the expanse of former CD-5."
A separate lawsuit challenging the congressional maps is being heard in federal court.
Florida House Minority Leader Rep. Fentrice Driskell of Tampa said she's holding out hope the federal case can overturn the redrawn map.
"There absolutely is a shared Black experience in terms of our fight for equality," Driskell said. "In so many ways are still fighting just to be able to exercise the right to vote."
Political analyst Dr. Lars Hafner said the federal court's decision will have the biggest impact because it would supersede the state's decision. Aside from North Florida, it could trigger voting representation locally, too.
"There is a trickle-down effect and it affects us right here in the Tampa Bay community because some of the congressional lines that were drawn were drawn a little differently," Hafner said.
For instance, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a Republican-drawn map in Alabama, with two conservative justices joining liberals in rejecting the effort to weaken a landmark voting rights law. Not long after that, the Supreme Court lifted its hold on a Louisiana political remap case, increasing the likelihood that the Republican-dominated state will have to redraw boundary lines to create a second mostly Black congressional district.
The Florida redistricting case is still one of several across the nation that challenge Republican-drawn maps as the GOP tries to keep their slim House majority.