New U.S. House districts that could help Republicans win several additional seats in Florida got their first test in court Friday against assertions that they violate a state constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering.
Attorneys representing voters asked a state judge to block the new districts from being used in the midterm elections and instead reinstate districts used for previous elections. Such a move would create a significant wrinkle in President Donald Trump’s attempt to hold on to a narrow House majority by redrawing voting districts to the GOP’s advantage. The judge gave no timetable for when he will rule.
Florida’s new House map is part of a national redistricting battle that gained steam last year when Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional districts. On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court refused to declare that Democratic lawmakers had vacated their offices when they briefly fled the state to block a redistricting vote.
The Florida Legislature approved a new House map on April 29 – the same day the U.S. Supreme Court weakened federal Voting Rights Act protections for minorities while striking down a majority-Black congressional district in Louisiana. Since then, several Southern states have taken steps to try to eliminate minority districts that have elected Democrats.
On Friday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee announced that he is ending his reelection bid. His decision came a week after Tennessee Republicans enacted a new U.S. House map that carves up Cohen’s majority-Black district in Memphis. The new map gives Republicans a shot at winning all nine of Tennessee’s U.S. House seats.
Republicans already hold 20 of Florida’s 28 U.S. House seats. New voting districts signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis after a swift two-day special legislative session could improve the GOP’s chances to win four additional seats in the November elections.
Congressional districts typically are redrawn once a decade, after each census, to rebalance populations. But since Trump urged mid-decade redistricting last year, Republicans think they could gain as many as 15 seats from new House maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah.
Democrats had counted on winning up to four additional seats in Virginia. But the Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a Democratic redistricting plan approved by voters, ruling the legislature violated procedural requirements when placing it on the ballot.
Florida bans partisan map-making
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that it has no authority to decide whether partisan gerrymandering goes too far. But it said partisan gerrymandering claims could continue to be decided in state courts under their own constitutions and laws.
Florida voters approved a state constitutional amendment in 2010 that prohibits U.S. House districts from being drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. The amendment bars districts from diminishing the ability of racial or language minorities to elect the representatives of their choice. It also requires districts to be compact and, where feasible, use existing political and geographic boundaries.
Lawsuits filed on behalf of voters seek a temporary injunction against the new House map for violating that amendment. Their arguments focus heavily on political favoritism.
Under the new House map, 82% of voters in districts represented by Republicans remain in the same districts as under the previous map, said attorney Chris Shenton, who represented Common Cause and other groups challenging it. Just 41% of voters in districts represented by Democrats are kept in their same districts, he said.
“It shows that Democratic districts are being targeted for reconfiguration. And why? To favor Republicans and disfavor Democrats. That is unconstitutional,” Shenton said.
Fair Districts Amendment called into question
Attorneys representing Florida’s state lawmakers and executive officials argued that partisan intent had not been proven and that a temporary injunction against the new districts is not appropriate in advance of a fully developed trial.
Though DeSantis called lawmakers into session before the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Louisiana case, he anticipated an eventual outcome weakening Voting Rights Act protections for minority districts. Among other changes, Florida’s new map reshapes a southeastern district that DeSantis’ office said was created to help elect a Black representative in an attempt to comply with federal law.
DeSantis’ office said no racial data was used to prepare the new map he presented to the Legislature. In a memo to lawmakers, DeSantis’ General Counsel David Axelman asserted that Florida’s constitutional provision about racial redistricting violates the U.S. Constitution. If one element is invalid, Axelman wrote, then the entire 2010 amendment is void.
Attorney Mohammad Jazil, representing Florida’s executive officials, emphasized a similar argument in court. He said the provision against partisan gerrymandering in Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment cannot stand if the section protecting racial minorities is now invalid.
“It is intertwined, it is interlocked, it is interwoven,” Jazil said.
South Carolina meets in special session for redistricting
The South Carolina House began debate Friday on a bill that would reshape U.S. House districts to try to help Republicans to gain a seat and sweep all seven of the state’s congressional districts. The proposal, pushed by Trump, would pull the congressional primaries out of the June 9 statewide primary and move them to August. Debate is expected to continue into next week.
Several Democrats gave speeches against the bill Friday, including state Rep. Justin Bamberg, who denounced Trump’s influence in the matter.
“How did we get here? One man made the call. He didn’t call every state in this country. He didn’t make calls across the North,” Bamberg said, later adding: “Where’d he go? The place that since the beginning of this country, you go to take this country backwards. He went to the South.”
Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, who called lawmakers into a special session for redistricting, said it’s important for South Carolina to send as many Republicans to Washington as possible to try to prevent Democrats from taking control of the House and attempting to impeach Trump.
“We have to have a functioning Congress,” McMaster said.
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Lieb reported from Jefferson City, Missouri, and Collins from Columbia, South Carolina.
