Courtesy News Service of Florida
(NSF/Tallahassee/March 29, 2022) — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday vetoed a congressional redistricting plan passed by the Legislature and said he was calling lawmakers back to Tallahassee in April to draw lines without what he calls a “racially gerrymandered” district in North Florida.
DeSantis, who had previously announced he would veto the redistricting plan, called a special session from April 19th to April 22nd.
DeSantis told reporters a map passed by the Legislature this month violated the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“Clearly, this is the legislature and in this case the governor’s prerogative, since I have to put my signature on it, to do this. We are not going to have it drawn by a court. I think we all agree that we have to work through this.”
Lawmakers redrew political boundaries this year as part of the once-a-decade reapportionment process. Maps for state House and state Senate districts have drawn relatively little controversy, but DeSantis targeted the congressional map.
The governor has focused on revamping Congressional District 5, which stretches from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee and was designed in the past to help elect a Black candidate. Democrat Al Lawson, who is Black, holds the seat.
DeSantis said he would leave it up to legislative leaders to decide if other topics would be added to the special session.
(From The News Service of Florida)