Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book has released the following statement on today’s passage of redistricting maps in the Florida Senate:
While our Caucus would have welcomed small changes to the Tampa Bay and Jacksonville markets in both congressional and state senate maps to make the final product far stronger, a vast majority of our Caucus supported the maps because they followed the spirit of Fair District standards, both tier 1 and 2 and reflect a final product that shows the will of the voters was present throughout the Senate process. I urge my colleagues in the Florida House of Representatives to embrace the principles reflected in the Florida Senate maps that give Floridians more fair and trusted congressional and legislative maps.
We also see the Governor’s unusual step of submitting his own Congressional District map as a brazen attempt to thwart not only the Federal Voting Rights Act, but also the will of Florida voters who voted overwhelmingly for the Fair Districts standards to be enshrined in our Constitution. The map he submitted is a grotesque partisan power grab that gives a clear advantage to Republicans by limiting the voices and fair representation of Black and Hispanic voters. This overreach is an insult to Floridians and rightfully should be ignored by my colleagues in the Florida Legislature.
