House backs base congressional map splitting Leon County

Florida lawmakers appear determined to split Leon County between two congressional districts, over the objections of local officials and the congresswoman with the biggest stake in the special legislative session.

The House redistricting committee voted 9-4 Thursday for the base map prepared by legislative attorneys and other staff in preparation for the two-week special session on redistricting. The Senate remapping committee finished public testimony on the plan and will consider three alternative maps next week, though it's questionable whether they will be approved.

U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat, appeared before both committees to argue against shifting her district from its current north-south axis to an east-west tract. That change was ordered by the Florida Supreme Court, which ruled on July 9 that eight of Florida's 27 current congressional districts were illegally drawn to protect incumbents and assure continued control by the Republican Party, which now has a 17-10 majority in the Florida delegation.

Brown, one of three black members elected to Congress from Florida in 1992, filed suit in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee on Wednesday to stop the movement of her district. She contends the pending map would violate federal law by reducing the odds of black voters electing the nominee of their choice in North Florida, leaving them without proper representation.

"If you're not at the table, you're on the menu," she repeated several times.

But Democratic National Committeeman Jon Ausman, a longtime Leon County activist, told the House committee that Tallahassee and Leon County have a long history of voting for minority candidates. He has proposed a map that would keep Leon County in one district, while extending the new tract as far as Jacksonville.

Ausman said the Legislature's District 5 map is illegal because it needlessly splits the city of Tallahassee and Leon County. He also pointed out that the Legislature's staff only came up with one proposal for District 5, one proposed by plaintiffs who sued over the 2012 redistricting plan, though they came up with alternative proposals for other districts.

"You could do a lot better, and you should have allowed staff to come up with alternatives," Ausman said. "And the failure to do that means you put a stinky, rotten apple into the barrel and have tainted the entire thing."

Attorneys for the state countered by saying the NAACP has objected to Ausman's map and that his proposed map contains fewer African-American voters than the Supreme Court would allow.

The base map approved by the House panel would create a new 2nd Congressional District, including southern Leon County and wrapping around the Big Bend from Panama City to the outskirts of Ocala. The revised 5th District would run from Gadsden to Duval County, including northern Tallahassee.

The House panel rejected two alternative maps, including one proposed by Rep. Mike Hill, R-Pensacola Beach, who proposed going back to the 2012 map found unconstitutional by justices.

Rep. Charles McBurney, R-Jacksonville and vice chairman of the committee, said Hill's amendment was out of order because it did not adhere to the call of the special session to redraw eight of Florida's 27 districts found unconstitutional.

They also rejected a proposal from Rep. Dave Kerner, D-Lake Worth, who wanted to use the 2012 versions of Districts 21 and 22 in Palm Beach and Broward counties. Kerner and local representatives said they would prefer a vertical alignment. They pointed out Interstate 95, the rail system, beaches and urban areas all run north-south and said coastal communities don't have the same issues as inland western communities. They also complained that Boca Raton, the second-largest city in Palm Beach County is included in a Broward district under the base map.

Rep. Irv Slosberg, D-Boca Raton and a member of the House redistricting panel, complained that the base map was drawn without public hearings that were held around the state as part of 2012 redistricting.

"I think it's paramount that we should have gone out with public testimony to let the people craft this map," he said. "That's why the Supreme Court threw it out in the first place is because of the fact that the Legislature, we didn't do it right."