A federal court has declined to dismiss a racial gerrymandering lawsuit challenging Florida's Senate map.
A three-judge panel unanimously ruled against a motion to dismiss from Secretary of State Cord Byrd's Office. A court order said after civil rights groups filed suit, attorneys for the state didn't bother to respond to the central argument in the case.
"Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint, arguing that Plaintiffs have failed to state a plausible vote-dilution claim," the order reads. "But Plaintiffs don't bring a vote-dilution claim; they bring a racial-gerrymandering claim."
The panel includes two Judges, Thomas Barber and Andrew Basher, appointed by former President Donald Trump and another, Charlene Honeywell, appointed by former President Barack Obama.
Attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and firms specializing in civil rights filed a suit on behalf of five residents challenging the Florida Senate map (S 8058) in April. A 31-page complaint alleges that the Florida Legislature illegally packed Black voters into a single Hillsborough-Pinellas County district at the expense of Black voters left at a disadvantage in neighboring seats.
Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for Byrd who also has represented Florida during challenges to its congressional map, last month filed a motion to dismiss the case.
"Plaintiffs have not and cannot state a Fourteenth Amendment claim for vote-dilution," Jazil wrote.
He also noted that the Florida Supreme Court already approved state legislative maps, which governed the 2022 elections. The state's high court since 1968 has automatically reviewed maps immediately after the Florida Legislature approves them to ensure compliance with the state constitution and statutes.
Of note, the maps approved in 2022 were the first ever not to draw any legal challenge to their constitutionality during that review.
But ACLU attorneys and other groups challenged whether the Senate map complies with federal law.
Plaintiffs want a change to Senate district lines only in the Tampa Bay region. The lawsuit asks courts to require the Florida Legislature to convene and draw boundaries that comply with state law.
But Plaintiffs did offer a proposed map that has no Senate district spanning the Bay and that offers little disruption to most other districts in the state. Attorneys have asked the court to rule in time for the 2026 elections, when even-numbered Senate seats are up for vote.
The demonstration map would have Senate District 18's southern borders expanded to cover all of south Pinellas, while the district's northern border would move south to Bay Drive, and all the way to Walsingham Road west of U.S. 19.
The district is represented now by Sen. Nick DiCeglie, a Republican. But an analysis by MCI Maps suggests that the proposed map could create problems for the incumbent. Analyst Matt Isbell said under the proposed map, 53% of voters in SD 18 supported Democrat Joe Biden over Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential Election.
As for SD 16, the entire Pinellas portion west of the Bay would be lost, and the district would instead pick up territory south to the Little Manatee River, including parts of Ruskin. But Isbell's analysis indicates it would remain a Democrat seat where 64% of voters backed Biden in 2020.
The changes would necessitate changes in three other neighboring districts, Senate Districts 20, 21 and 23. Those are all represented now by Republicans: Sens. Jim Boyd, Ed Hooper and Danny Burgess, respectively. Notably, Senate District 14, represented by Republican Sen. Jay Collins, would be unchanged on this map.
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