As you may have heard, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the Senate's revised map last Friday, and yesterday Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that the Legislature's congressional map would stand through the 2012 election. Although the League is not entirely pleased with the resulting maps, in the words of LWVF Redistricting Chair Pam Goodman, "we believe this is justice delayed, not justice denied, and we will continue to explore all legal options to impact these maps beyond the 2012 election cycle."
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State Sen. Audrey Gibson (D-Jacksonville)
reviews the new Senate map.
Photo by BILL COTTERELL/AP
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Despite these setbacks, League members and volunteers should take stock in the work that we've all done to improve the redistricting process in Florida. Our efforts have been the culmination of over 70 years of diligence on the part of the Florida League -- in fact, political gerrymandering was the very first issue that LWV members identified as a problem when they organized in Florida in 1939. They left us quite a legacy!
Even though we believe that the final maps could be better, LWVF President Deirdre Macnab reminds us that our work has made a difference: "Florida League members should take satisfaction in knowing that, because of our hard work in support of the FairDistricts amendments, the political playing field will be more level than it was before, more cities and counties will remain whole within districts, and more districts will be geographically compact." That is a real accomplishment!
So, while there is still work ahead, and perhaps more litigation between now and 2014, we are proud of what we've done and we will continue to preserve the League's legacy of fighting for fairness.
Sincerely,
Jessica Lowe-Minor
LWVF Executive Director
P.S. To view the enacted House, Senate and Congressional maps, please click here, and look under the "Legislative Headlines" section. |
