In my first Florida redistricting session, the Legislature reduced the Senate’s membership from 48 to 40 seats and the fabled boss of the chamber, Sen. Dempsey Barron of Bonifay, compared plotting new districts to owning a champion hunting dog about to have puppies.
You need to convince each of your friends he or she is getting the pick of the litter, Barron said. To get enough votes to pass a plan, he would promise fellow senators districts tailored for their perpetual re-election, in those pre-term limit days.
“Now all I have to do,” he said, “is figure out how to get that ol’ dog to have 40 puppies.”
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