TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Republican legislative leaders announced Monday that they are not crafting a new congressional map but will rather defer to Gov. Ron DeSantis to draft new maps that will be to his liking.
The unusual move comes a week before state lawmakers are scheduled to head back to Tallahassee to address the state’s redistricting maps after DeSantis vetoed a congressional map approved by the GOP-dominated Legislature last month.
Historically, the Legislature had led the redistricting process. The change to the status quo shows just how much influence and power DeSantis wields over legislators and the once-in-a-decade process of redrawing lines for congressional districts.
Here is the joint statement made by Senate President Wilton Simpson, a Trilby Republican, and House Speaker Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican:
“With the Legislature set to convene in special session on Tuesday, April 19, we would like to provide an update on redistricting and outline the process moving forward.
“As you are aware, for the first time in nearly a century, the state legislative maps passed during the regular session were not challenged by a single party and were declared valid by the Florida Supreme Court. Subsequently, as required by CS/SJR 100, the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research made the geographical information systems maps and block equivalency files for the newly enacted state legislative districts available on its website. This information also remains available on the Legislature’s Joint Redistricting website.
“Under the process laid out in the state constitution, unlike state legislative maps, there is no mandatory review by the Florida Supreme Court for congressional maps. Like other general bills, the Governor has a role in establishing congressional districts of the state. Therefore, our goal during the special session is to pass a new congressional map that will both earn the Governor’s signature and withstand legal scrutiny, if challenged.
“At this time, Legislative reapportionment staff is not drafting or producing a map for introduction during the special session. We are awaiting a communication from the Governor’s Office with a map that he will support. Our intention is to provide the Governor’s Office opportunities to present that information before House and Senate redistricting committees.
“We look forward to working with you next week as we complete our constitutional obligation for the 2022 redistricting process.”
For two months during the legislative session, the governor tried and failed to get lawmakers to agree to his legal approach to redistricting, which is that the protections afforded to Black voters in Jacksonville and Orlando were an “illegal gerrymander” because he says the courts have since determined that race should not take precedence over the 14th Amendment provisions of equal protection.
But, also for months, the legal teams advising the House and Senate told legislators that they are legally required to draw districts in Jacksonville and South Florida that give Black voters the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice, although they agreed to dismantle a Black-majority district in Orlando.
There are some important time constraints at work in Florida’s redistricting process, too.
Because a new seat in Congress was awarded as a result of the 2020 Census, there’s a requirement to have an entirely new map in place to accommodate the 28th District. So falling back on the existing map for the 2022 election is not an option.
The last day for a candidate to qualify to run for Congress in Florida is June 17, and the primary election is Aug. 23.
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