Legal tussle over Florida’s political maps heads to court

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – With possible political control of the Florida Senate on the line, a trial began Monday that will end with a judge choosing the official map for Florida’s 40 state senate districts.

The Senate’s fate wound up in the court’s hands after the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature deadlocked this fall over drawing a new Senate map.

Circuit Judge George Reynolds is being asked to sort through and a make a decision on rival maps, including proposals that could erode the current GOP advantage. Republicans currently hold a 26-14 margin, but some of the proposals before him could potentially throw Senate control over to the Democrats.

David King, an attorney representing groups that sued the Legislature over the current districts, contended in his opening statement that the Senate is asking the judge to approve a map intended to protect GOP candidates and incumbents.

“This is simply business as usual in the Legislature,” King said.

Raoul Cantero, a former state Supreme Court justice, defended the map offered to the court by the Senate. In his opening statement, he suggested that a rival map produced by the League of Women Voters and Common Cause was drawn in secret by a Democratic-leaning consultant. Cantero contrasted that with legislative staff, who he said worked in a “sterile” process to design a set of initial maps.

“We have a process that is totally in the public eye,” Cantero said.

The trial, which could last until Thursday, is the latest chapter in an ongoing legal saga that so far has seen the Legislature thwarted by the coalition of groups that sued over the maps.

Voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2010 requiring compact political districts that aren’t drawn to benefit parties or incumbents. Voting rights groups sued in 2012 over maps drawn for both congressional seats and the state Senate. The three-year battle over the congressional districts resulted in the state Supreme Court siding with the groups and ordering a new map that will upend the state’s political landscape heading into the 2016 elections.

A trial on the Senate maps was scheduled for September, but the Senate settled the case ahead of time. Senate leaders acknowledged in court filings that they had violated the voter-approved standards. That led to a 19-day special session that ended abruptly in early November after the Senate voted down a map approved by the House. Since the Legislature did not approve a new map, attorneys are asking the court to sign off on a proposal approved by Senate Majority Leader Bill Galvano after the session ended.

King told the judge the Senate map was designed to assist the Bradenton Republican, who is in line to become Senate president if the GOP maintains control. He also pointed out how other proposals considered during the session would have paired more GOP senators in the same district than the one presented to the court. Galvano, who was in charge of Senate redistricting efforts, is scheduled to testify later this week.

Legislative staff, however, maintained they were largely unaware of where incumbents lived or the political performance of the districts they had drawn.