One considers disposing of Al Lawson’s district but keeping a Black-performing seat in Jacksonville.
Hours ahead of what’s likely the final meeting of the House Redistricting Committee, cartographers for the chamber released two draft congressional maps.
One map (H 8017) would effectively eliminate a north Florida district now represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson. Up until now, some configuration of that map has appeared on every redistricting draft produced by the Legislature. Staff has maintained the Black-performing seat to avoid diminishing minority communities’ ability to elect a Representative of their choice. But it did not appear on two public submissions from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, which has labeled the district an “unconstitutional gerrymander” despite being implemented by the Florida Supreme Court in 2015.
