This is going to be a hellish legislative session — again — for many Florida lawmakers. Gov. Ron DeSantis wants them to reconfigure the boundaries of the state’s 28 congressional districts -— and do it on his time frame, in an accelerated special session that will start in late April. The governor has offered a few excuses for his near-mandate, none of which really hold water.
For much of DeSantis’ time as governor, he’s expected “because I want it” to be good enough. This time, lawmakers should say “no,” not only to his time frame (clearly intended to stampede lawmakers into a hasty decision) but to the idea of re-drawing districts at all.
They can certainly accomplish that in the regular session, which starts Tuesday and will be DeSantis’ last session as governor. .
An old and nasty trick
The concept of legislative gerrymandering is about as old as the idea of legislatures. Shaping districts to favor powerbrokers and partisan interests warps the idea of representative democracy — rather than the voters choosing lawmakers at the ballot box, lawmakers get to choose which voters will be lumped together to produce “safe” seats. The result is a congressional delegation that doesn’t reflect the state it is supposed to be representing. Both parties have been caught using gerrymandering tricks, but DeSantis’ naked grab for power is next-level.
As Supreme Court pulls back on gerrymandering, state courts may decide fate of maps
According to the most recent figures, Florida’s voter registrations are about 41% Republican and a little over 30% Democratic, with under 29% of voters registered to minor parties or with no party affiliation at all. Yet Florida’s legislative delegation is split 20-8 — and DeSantis wants to reconfigure maps to pick off one or two more Democrats.
This is exactly the kind of partisan scheming that a pair of constitutional amendments passed in 2010 were supposed to prevent. The amendments demanded districts for both Congress and the state Legislature that were drawn along rational lines, and without any attempt to favor one party over another.
A turn for the better
Lawmakers celebrated this victory for electoral strength by immediately trampling it in 2012, with Republican lawmakers meeting in secret to draw lines clearly intended to favor the GOP. They seemed more disposed to follow voters’ will in 2022, but that wasn’t enough for DeSantis, who vetoed the 2022 congressional map and sent his own heavy-handed suggestions to “fix” it. Cowed — as they often were by DeSantis — legislators meekly acquiesced, adopting a map that wiped out one of the state’s few “majority minority” districts and shaped more districts with the intent of electing Republicans. And obviously, it worked.
A host of civic-minded groups that included the League of Women Voters and Common Cause brought suit, claiming DeSantis’ plan used district boundaries drawn — once again — in secrecy. Tellingly, Republican lawmakers fought hard against any attempt to have them testify (which would be the best and possibly only way to discern their intent.) Sadly, secrecy won.
A bizarre demand
Still, nobody expected the governor to come back just four years later, and demand yet another re-drawing of district lines. This is an unprecedented move: Until now, district lines have been set in stone, absent a finding by a court that they don’t meet legal requirements. DeSantis has offered a few limp rationalizations for his demand, but nothing that would overcome the sheer gall of this re-write of the rules.
House Speaker Daniel Perez agreed to take up the issue, and immediately convened a committee to begin studying redistricting — pointing out, correctly, that lines should be in place as soon as possible because congressional qualifying starts in April. DeSantis countered Wednesday afternoon with his declaration of a special session to start April 20 — the same day qualifying was scheduled to start. Secretary of State Cord Byrd will move that qualifying period to June 8-12. It seems obvious that the governor wants to stampede the Legislature into approving something on a ticking time clock.
Curiously, the Senate hasn’t yet indicated whether it would take the issue up at all. In a lengthy memo sent to lawmakers Dec. 3, Senate President Ben Albritton acknowledged DeSantis’ push, but then notes “there is no ongoing work regarding potential mid-decade redistricting taking place in the Senate at this time” — and hadn’t gotten started a month later.
Why Trump’s plan to help GOP keep control of the House could backfire
Albritton’s move could be read two ways. First, that he might be preparing to follow DeSantis’ lead and decide on new districts during a rushed special session. But something else he said in that memo should give Floridians hope that Albritton has their back. He advised lawmakers that, despite court rulings, their discussions in preparation for redistricting would not be secret. He also cautioned them not to discard any records, including correspondence from partisan groups, on the topic of redistricting. Finally, he made it clear that partisanship would not be permitted during any attempt to redraw lines — not in the Senate, not on his watch.
Together, Albritton and Perez have taken other opportunities to show the governor that they are not the pushovers their predecessors have been. But nothing would demonstrate that more clearly than a stand in favor of democracy itself. If the two chambers decide to take up redistricting, they should use it as an opportunity to go back to the maps the Legislature produced in 2022 — with district boundaries that met the spirit and intent of the 2010 amendment. That would make it clear that the Legislature is no longer interested in kowtowing to a tyrannical governor, and that they believe equal, fair representation is more important than any partisan advantage they might gain.
The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Use insight@orlandosentinel.com to contact us.
