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David King

Corrine Brown’s lawyer makes historical argument to keep district lines

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A lawyer for U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown on Friday told a panel of federal judges that Florida’s new congressional map flies in the face of 100 years of history and would do violence to the voting rights of her black constituency. William Sheppard argued that the former District, which meanders from Jacksonville through Gainesville to Sanford, follows the course of the St. John’s River, where black residents settled and stayed after fleeing discrimination and racist attacks early last century. Brown’s former 5th Congressional…

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New state Senate seats renumbered

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Staff from the Florida Senate and Auditor General’s office met Tuesday to assign random numbers to districts in the state’s new Senate District map. Here are the results, with the first number being the district number on the map as adopted by Circuit Judge George Reynolds; the second is the new randomly assigned district number. Same numbers means districts stay the same: 1-2 2-1 3-3 4-4 5-5 6-7 7-8 8-12 9-6 10-9 11-10 12-11 13-14 14-13 15-22 16-17 17-18 18-20 19-19 20-16…

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Maps shuffled in state Senate redistricting fight

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The plaintiffs in the state Senate redistricting case have reshuffled their proposed maps to redraw the state’s 40 senatorial districts, saying they want to “narrow the issues for trial.” Part of their reason was the much-maligned “jumping the Bay,” or districts that cross the water from Hillsborough County into Pinellas County to capture a Democratic voting base in southeast Pinellas. On Tuesday, the League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause and others withdrew two maps and submitted a new…

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Judge denies Senate motion to appoint new consultant in redistricting case

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A Tallahassee trial court judge Friday afternoon denied a motion filed by the Legislature’s attorneys that sought to appoint a special consultant. Second Judicial Circuit Judge George Reynolds sided with a coalition group of plaintiffs who brought the Senate redistricting challenge that ultimately invalidated the chamber’s enacted maps. Lewis said the time frame for the court’s work was too short to implement a new course of action. “The ship has sailed, and we are on the sea with this process,” said Lewis, denying…

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House passes redistricting map

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The Florida House of Representatives Tuesday passed its version of a redrawn state Senate district map, sending it back to the Senate for a likely conference process. The map was passed 73-47, with all Democrats in opposition and some Republicans joining them, including state Reps. Matt Gaetz, Chris Latvala and Ray Pilon. A long line of Democrats spoke against the latest map, which includes three contentious Hispanic-majority South Florida seats. “I would love to be able to support this,” said…

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Redistricting hearing: Trial judge needs direction, Senate wants do-over

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Hope sprang eternal in the Leon County Courthouse Tuesday, with the state Senate’s redistricting chair insisting there was still time for lawmakers to get together and come up with a new map for the state’s 27 congressional seats. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis held a brief hearing after the Florida Legislature couldn’t agree on new boundary lines despite convening a 2-week special session that ended last Friday. But Lewis sounded stymied by a lack of direction from the Florida Supreme Court.…

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Five minutes with David King, Counsel for League of Women Voters Florida

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

Another skirmish in the battle over how Florida’s congressional districts were drawn played out Wednesday at the Florida Supreme Court. Sen. Bill Galvano emerged from the courtroom confident that the justices would uphold a plan approved by a lower court judge. David King represents the League of Women Voters which spearheaded a Fair Districts Constitutional Amendment that the group said lawmakers violated. King told justices that documents provided a peek “behind the curtain” of a corrupted process. Here’s five minutes…

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