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Fair Districts - page 3

Florida judge will try to sort out state’s political mess

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After years of legal wrangling, two special sessions and much political finger pointing, a judge is going to try to sort out the mess left from squabbling over Florida’s 27 congressional districts. Judge Terry Lewis on Thursday will preside over a trial where he will consider seven different maps that would each alter the state’s political landscape. Lewis is expected to recommend one of the proposals to the state Supreme Court for final approval. “I would really like to see…

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Today is deadline for parties in redistricting trial to submit proposed maps

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A judge is set to hold a trial later this month to sort out the jumbled mess in Florida’s political landscape over the mapping of state congressional districts. Judge Terry Lewis agreed Friday to give attorneys involved in a three-year legal battle over Florida’s congressional districts until Monday to submit proposed maps. The Florida Supreme Court in July ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw the state’s 27 congressional districts after finding the current map violated standards adopted by voters. But…

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Arguing Florida lawmakers agree on one thing: silence the Supreme Court

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Lawmakers couldn’t agree on congressional redistricting but they do seem to agree on one thing: Muzzling the Florida Supreme Court. The latest special session ended last week with no new map to apportion Florida’s 27 U.S. House districts. It did result in lots of rhetoric, including from some Democrats, on “judicial overreach” and breaching the separation of powers. A majority of justices declared the current map violated the “Fair Districts” constitutional amendments, passed to combat gerrymandering, or the drawing of…

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Martin Dyckman: Winner-take-all winner could be Donald Trump

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Our next president may well owe the office to arrogant billionaires or be one himself. Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that fewer than 400 families account for nearly half the $388 million already invested in that election still more than a year away. Did America shed blood to be rid of monarchy only to have it come to this? And yet the vast moral and political corruption unleashed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s confusion of free spending with free…

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Dana Young for Florida Senate?

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If things break as the Florida Supreme Court has foreshadowed, House Majority Leader Dana Young might be headed to the state Senate. While sources are conflicted as to whether a likely redrawing of the upper chamber’s district boundaries will leave Young with a viable district, there is broad agreement on one thing: If she runs, she’ll certainly be competitive. “If a new Senate map looked anything like the proposal from the Fair Districts Coalition, Dana’s profile would be exceptionally strong,” said Democratic strategist Steve Schale, referring…

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Email insights: Ted Deutch’s lightning-fast redistricting response

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Say what you will about U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, he strikes while the iron is hot. With breakneck speed, the Boca Raton Democrat representing Florida’s 21st Congressional District sent out the first fundraising email in the wake of Florida’s Supreme Court throwing out parts of the state’s congressional map. The state’s highest court found that lawmakers violated Florida’s Fair Districts constitutional amendment, which bans political influence when drawing districts. Deutch’s is among the eight congressional districts state legislators must now redraw – including swing seats of Republican U.S.…

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

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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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