Senate Democrats believe there’s a chance to shoot down a Republican-favoring congressional map with a simple majority in the upper chamber.
After three Republican Senators and one independent voted against the cartography in the Senate Rules Committee, Minority Leader Lori Berman said there’s greater hope than she initially believed that lawmakers may reject the proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“There’s a possibility. I hope we can appeal to our Republican colleagues, and that they would maybe consider it. We’ll find out,” Berman said. “I didn’t expect to see as many no votes as we saw today.”
In the Senate Rules Committee, GOP Sens. Jennifer Bradley, Ileana Garcia and Erin Grall all cast votes against the map. Only Bradley made public remarks as to why, pointing to admissions by the Governor’s staff that the proposal ignores both the Florida Constitution’s Fair Districts amendment passed in 2010 and requirements under the Voting Rights Act in place since 1965.
Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for the Governor’s office, said he believes all restrictions in federal law will soon be eliminated when the U.S. Supreme Court rules on the Louisiana v. Callais redistricting case, and that the Florida Supreme Court already undermined part of Fair Districts and will likely throw all of it out if the map is challenged in state court. But Bradley found that logic lacking.
“The attorneys came before us, and they said that without the Callais decision, we are operating on a signal from the Supreme Court,” she said. “As the current state of the law, that is unconstitutional. And on top of that, it also rests on a legal theory that the Supreme Court has not even opined on or heard that the Fair Districts amendment would be entirely voided. That’s a big deal. I would love for that decision to come out, for the Governor to get an advisory opinion on the effect of the Fair Districts amendment. And then let’s do this. I just, I can’t do it. It’s just unconstitutional. And I it’s a tough one, but I’m a no.”
Less surprising, independent Sen. Jason Pizzo, who served as Minority Leader until leaving the Democratic Party last year, also spoke fervently against the proposed map.
Nevertheless, the map advanced from committee on a 14-9 vote. But based on current attendance at the Special Session, that means Democrats could defeat the map if they can get another four votes.
One lawmaker suggested that even the map’s technical sponsor, Sen. Don Gaetz, may be on the fence. The Crestview Republican questioned the Governor’s staff on why some portions of Fair Districts, like pursuing high compactness scores, were adhered to closely by mapmakers while the top-tier requirements, like prohibiting partisan performance from being considered or protecting the voice of minority communities, were not. He stressed he only carried the map because he was asked to so by the Governor and Senate President Ben Albritton.
“No matter how you feel about race-related issues or factors going into redistricting, there are other aspects of the Fair Districts amendment that I think make an extraordinary amount of sense,” Gaetz later told press.
Some also hope Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Miami-Dade Republican who does not sit on the Rules Committee, can be swayed. She, like Garcia, represents a heavily Hispanic district, and the Governor’s map disassembles a Central Florida Hispanic seat.
But Republicans hold a super-majority in the chamber. Sources tell Florida Politics that some GOP Senators who initially had not planned to attend the entire Special Session, including Sens. Bryan Avila and Keith Truenow, may be asked to stay to ensure a majority.
And of note, Sen. Joe Gruters, who also serves as Chair of the Republican National Committee, chose to skip Special Session entirely to avoid the appearance of partisan influence, but he has not been legally prohibited from voting if he shows up. Sen. Tom Leek, an Ormond Beach Republican who previously sponsored a congressional map vetoed by the Governor, also is not in attendance.
“Two GOP Senators (Leek and Gruters) are out this week. That means just THREE additional NO votes from Republican Senators will stop this blatantly ILLEGAL gerrymander,” posted Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat. “16 No’s (12 Ds, Pizzo, Grall, Bradley, Garcia) plus any 3 GOP Senators = 19-19 vote. The bill fails.”
The map is scheduled to be heard on the floor after 10 a.m.
It will also be heard in the House, but no Republicans voted against advancing the map in a House Redistricting Committee hearing on Tuesday.
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