ORLANDO, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for an advisory opinion involving his proposed congressional map that would eliminate a Black American district in North Florida.
The move is another setback to DeSantis’ unprecedented insertion into the redistricting process after the state Senate ignored his surprise map and approved its own.
In the 5-0- order, with two justices recusing themselves, the justices wrote, “the scope of the governor’s request is broad and contains multiple questions that implicate complex federal and state constitutional matters and precedents interpreting the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
The history of redistricting has shown that the maps eventually adopted by the Legislature would likely be subject to legal challenges, so other courts should be allowed to weigh in before it did, the ruling stated.
“We respectfully deny the request for an advisory opinion,” the court wrote. “No rehearing will be permitted.”
DeSantis spokeswoman Taryn Fenske responded, “While we were hopeful the Supreme Court would provide clarity to legal questions surrounding the maps that are under consideration, we agree with the Court’s opinion that there are important issues that must be addressed quickly. We look forward to working with the Legislature to finalize a new congressional map for the 2022 election.”
Experts have said DeSantis’ plan would dilute minority voting power and likely give Republicans an 18-10 advantage in Florida seats, compared to the 16-11 advantage Republicans currently hold and the 16-12 advantage the Senate’s approved maps would give them.
While the Senate passed its map, members of the House have yet to pass theirs. While one draft House map is similar to the Senate map, another would also redraw several seats, including essentially eliminating the Central Florida seat held by outgoing U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.
DeSantis holds veto power over congressional maps, unlike the state legislative maps approved last week.
DeSantis’ map would eliminate District 5, which is designed to elect a Black under the federal Voting Rights Act and held by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson, who is Black. It also would potentially create a majority white Democratic primary in the Orange County district represented by outgoing U.S. Rep. Val Demings, who also is Black.
The governor asked the court for an opinion on the Senate’s District 5 map, which stretches from Tallahassee to Jacksonville.
House Speaker Chris Sprowls said he expects his chamber will not take DeSantis’ approach and leave intact that district.
“The governor’s question about the North Florida district and its contiguous nature raised a novel legal argument,’’ the Republican said. “We’re probably not in a position to be able to address novel legal arguments in our process, which is why had we had gotten guidance from the Supreme Court that may have enlightened that.”
He added, “You can probably anticipate that North Florida district that was in the previous House map will be similar or the same.”
In unveiling the governor’s map, Fenske argued that District 5 is an “unconstitutional gerrymander that unnaturally connects communities in Jacksonville with communities hours away in Tallahassee and Gadsden counties.
Matt Isbell, an elections expert who runs the MCIMaps website, said the question of what is considered a minority “access” district under the Civil Rights Act depends on electoral math, more than straight demographics.
“It’s not just about the Census data,” Isbell said. “... The 5th District, for example, is not majority Black, but it is a very Democratic seat. And we can look at the precinct data and say, ‘In that Democratic primary, which effectively is the election, it’s 70%, African American at this point.”
Isbell said it’s also not just about minority representation in the district’s major cities.
“All but one of the counties in the 5th District is majority Black in the primary,” he said. “There’s a North Florida Black community that I think kind of gets forgotten about outside of Tallahassee and Jacksonville.”
The court’s decision not to hear the request is not the end for DeSantis’ map, Isbell said.
“We’re still sort of this limbo, where DeSantis, playing politics, is going decide what he will do,” Isbell said.
