Legislative Redistricting

 

It's a done deal - Florida Legislature will be Republican run for the next 100 years...

News Clips

(news clips have not been kept updated - check archives)

High court throws out judge's redistricting rule-- The Florida Supreme Court overturned a trial judge who ruled the boundaries of four new state Senate districts were unconstitutional.-- In July, Circuit Judge Jack Singbush ruled the boundaries were unconstitutional because they split Marion County and left it without a home seat. 9/7/02

Racing the clock:Voters have one last chance to prevail
The new boundaries for Florida's 40 Senate districts are unfair, arbitrary and undemocratic. 7/26/02

Judge invalidates Senate districts
OCALA -- A judge declared Marion County's four new state Senate districts invalid Wednesday, saying they are unconstitutional because they split the county and leave it without a home seat. 7/25/02

Editorial: Florida redistricting
We wondered who Florida lawmakers were listening to when they carved the state into new U.S. House districts. Actually, we did know. They were listening to friends in high political places — Florida's big cities and Washington. We were asking rhetorically, because we knew lawmakers were not listening to Southwest Florida constituents who wanted to stick together. 7/24/02

Lobbying is give and receive
With their political futures on the line, several Florida members of Congress steered thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to lobbyists and Republican state lawmakers who played pivotal roles in drawing new congressional district maps. 7/21/02

Redrawn districts give GOP an edge
With congressional races in South Florida officially under way, the redrawing of voting districts by the GOP-controlled Legislature last spring is making Republicans the heavy favorites even in the most competitive races. 7/21/02

New congressional districts have incumbents scurrying to meet voters -- TALLAHASSEE · Like most incumbents, Democrat Peter Deutsch hasn't had to worry much about re-election to Congress. A familiar face in the suburban sprawl of South Florida, Deutsch hasn't faced a serious challenger in at least six years, and it seems he won't have a major opponent this fall.-- 
But redistricting has radically changed the shape of congressional districts, and many South Florida political veterans such as Deutsch are having to introduce themselves to new voters in new political terrain -- even though the new maps almost guarantee victories for most South Florida incumbents, including Democrats. 7/15/02

New districts split neighborhoods
Charlie Hollis Sr. appreciates his Golden Gate neighborhood and the quiet of residential streets miles from Collier County's crowded coast. Hollis, a 43-year-old automotive technician, knows his neighbors. The modest home he shares with his 24-year-old son, Charlie Jr., is sandwiched between the households of two Hispanic families. Across the street is an Asian-American family. Farther down the block in either direction live black families. It is a mostly blue-collar community of pickup trucks, big trees and curbless streets.  New district map 7/14/02

State House map approved nearly intact
A federal three-judge panel signs off on a fix for districts in Broward, Miami-Dade and Collier counties. 7/11/02

Redrawn legislative election districts shift 71,000 in S. Florida 7/11/02

Redrawn House districts approved
A GOP leader's revision of three districts appeases U.S. judges. November's elections will be based on the result. 7/10/02

In win for GOP-led Legislature, panel OK's redistricting plan
TALLAHASSEE - In what was likely the final test in redrawing Florida's political boundaries before the fall elections, a three-judge federal panel late Tuesday approved a slightly-modified version of the state House of Representatives redistricting plan. 7/10/02

Judges approve changes to 3 legislative election districts - TALLAHASSEE -- Handing Republicans another political victory, a three-judge panel Tuesday night approved House Speaker Tom Feeney’s plan to rearrange three South Florida state House districts. 7/10/02

Redistricting is a boon for incumbents, not voters
Redistricting, the once-a-decade process whereby incumbent politicians carve out their own legislative districts to guarantee themselves safe seats, is just about completed in all 50 states. Much ink has been printed about which side will win more seats, Democrats or Republicans. But the real score is: Incumbents 100, Voters 0. 7/10/02

House redistricting court case still unsettled
The speaker's quick fix fails to impress a three-judge federal panel, and qualifying looms. 7/9/02

House districts remain in flux - TALLAHASSEE -- A dozen state House districts in South Florida should be redrawn to protect the voting rights of racial minorities and to remedy flaws that federal officials found embedded in the Legislature's reapportionment map, lawyers for Democrats told a three-judge panel Monday.-- 
But attorneys for the Republican-run Legislature and House Speaker Tom Feeney say such a massive reassembly of boundary lines is unnecessary, and judges need only redraw three South Florida districts. 7/9/02

'Legislative' tag for district map rejected
The speaker wanted to bypass judicial review of the state House's redistricting map. 7/9/02

Judges to draw House district borders
A panel of federal judges said Monday it will quickly redraw the Florida House of Representatives' political boundaries, taking the once-a-decade redistricting process out of the Republican-led Legislature's hands. 7/9/02

Editorial: Redistricting
Three judges meet in Tallahassee on Monday at the 11th hour — perhaps 11 1/8 would be more accurate — to make a final decision on political boundaries in Collier County. It's the culmination of reapportionment, a politically charged job that rolls around every 10 years to even up state House, state Senate and congressional voting districts. While Florida's redrawn voting districts for state Senate and U.S. Congress passed muster, the state House voting lines did not. 7/6/02

Political mapmaking needs earlier schedule
Draw Florida districts a year before election. 7/5/02

Redistricting mess
The Legislature's contempt for the public is showing again. The attempt to avoid a special session to fix the House redistricting is an affront to Florida voters. 7/4/02

Fix The Process For The Future
Florida is running out of time and legal options to fix a badly flawed redistricting plan for Congress and the state Legislature. Voters and politicians likely confront a worst-case scenario: 10 years of living with a harmful, unfair and bizarrely distorted mapmaker's nightmare. Voters should vow: Never again. 7/4/02

Judges approve congressional map
The federal judges also endorsed state Senate boundaries, but problems remain with the House map. 7/3/02

Judges OK most districts - TALLAHASSEE -- In a victory for Republican legislators, a panel of three federal judges on Tuesday upheld new boundary lines for Florida's congressional and state Senate districts.-- 
But the judges left open the possibility of redrawing several South Florida state House seats, offering a glimmer of hope to Democrats who say the maps are unfair to minorities and Democrats. 7/3/02

Three judge panel upholds congressional, state Senate maps
TALLAHASSEE — A panel of three federal judges upheld new boundary lines Tuesday for Florida's congressional and state Senate districts. In an order from one of the judges, U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan of Miami, the panel said it was delaying a ruling on state House districts because of a pending objection to that plan by the U.S. Department of Justice. 7/3/02

Judges uphold Florida voting districts
In a major boost to Republicans in Florida and across the nation, three federal judges on Tuesday upheld the state's new GOP-designed congressional districts, improving the party's chances of maintaining its edge in the House of Representatives. 7/3/02

House Attorneys Adjust Proposed District Lines - ...House attorneys rejiggered the lines Tuesday and asked federal judges to approve the revamped plan with a promise the Legislature will officially approve them next year. 7/3/02

Justice Department wants state House districts redrawn
The Legislature's new House districts violate the rights of Hispanics in Collier County, a federal official says.7/1/02

State House redistricting map rejected by Justice Department-- TALLAHASSEE -- The U.S. Justice Department on Monday rejected a redistricting plan for the Florida House of Representatives, saying it violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act by eliminating a Hispanic-majority district in South Florida.- 
The ruling could force lawmakers into special session, possibly as early as next week, two weeks before candidate filing opens for legislative races.7/1/02

House district borders rejected
In a surprising move that could cause chaos on the campaign trail, the U.S. Justice Department on Monday rejected the new GOP-designed political boundaries for the Florida House of Representatives, declaring they discriminate against Hispanics in Collier County.7/1/02

Testimony in lawsuit politically charged
As few as two of Florida's 25 congressional districts could be considered safe for either party looking ahead, an expert hired by Republican defenders of the plan testified Friday in a redistricting trial. 6/15/02

Deutsch: GOP plan decides Congress for 2002
MIAMI — Masterful redistricting by Republicans created a state where this year's congressional races have already been decided, Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch testified Thursday at a redistricting trial. "This is a major victory if this plan is adopted for Republicans nationally," said Deutsch, who sued for boundary changes. "This is determining who is going to control Congress." 6/14/02

GOP, Democrats spar in court
The redistricting plan crafted by the Republican-controlled Legislature was designed to assure the GOP a majority of the state's 25 congressional districts, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch told a three-judge federal panel on Thursday.6/14/02

Deutsch: Our map also was partisan
As one of the most talkative congressmen, U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch has never been accused of failing to speak his mind. But as the Broward County Democrat took the stand Thursday in U.S. District Court in Miami to attack a Republican-drawn congressional map, from his party's standpoint, he might have talked too much.6/14/02

Butterworth criticized by Harris in suit over districts
Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris says Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth ''is falling woefully short'' in his duty to defend the state against a lawsuit that challenges the newly drawn congressional voting districts.6/12/02

GOP district plans win U.S. backing
The U.S. Department of Justice approved the state's new GOP-drawn congressional districts Friday, prompting cries of partisan politicking from Democrats who say the Bush administration is intent on ensuring Republican domination in Congress. 6/8/02