US Politics

Florida Republicans back down in standoff with DeSantis over congressional map

Florida Republicans back down in standoff with DeSantis over congressional map

The GOP-controlled Florida Legislature is throwing in the towel after a public fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, over his desire to draw a new congressional map that would carve up two largely Black districts.

Republican leaders acquiesced Monday and said the Legislature will let the governor’s office present its preferred map during this month’s special session, after DeSantis vetoed the ones approved by state lawmakers earlier this year.

“We are awaiting a communication from the Governor’s Office with a map that he will support. Our intention is to provide the Governor’s Office opportunities to present that information before House and Senate redistricting committees,” House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson said in a memo to members shared with NBC News.

DeSantis, who is up for re-election and widely thought to be considering a 2024 run for president, took the unusual step of proposing a congressional redistricting map earlier this year, one that would eliminate two Black-held seats while boosting the prospects for Republicans seeking a House seat.

His main objection to the maps proposed by lawmakers appeared to be a north Florida seat held by Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat. The district runs from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and is 46 percent Black; it’s considered a seat where voters of color have the opportunity to elect the members of their choice.

State lawmakers, including Republicans, have argued that maintaining some form of the seat was needed to comply with state constitutional amendments governing redistricting, which say minority voting power cannot be reduced during the map-making process. DeSantis, however, insisted that Lawson’s seat was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander; he proposed a map that would split the district into several Republican-leaning seats.

The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project said DeSantis’ map was gerrymandered to achieve significant partisan advantage for…

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