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Senate redistricting - page 3

An angry Tom Lee questions Senate base maps

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A fiery state Sen. Tom Lee lashed out at the Senate’s outside attorney Monday, questioning why he didn’t object to specific allegations of unconstitutionality over the chamber’s current districts. The Legislature began a scheduled three-week Special Session to redraw the state’s 40 districts after the Senate settled a court challenge by admitting its current map was gerrymandered to benefit Republicans and incumbents. Lee, a Brandon Republican, also asked why all of the replacement maps contain districts that cross Tampa Bay when the Supreme Court, in…

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Bill Galvano: No new elections for senators whose districts change

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State Sen. Bill Galvano, who chairs his chamber’s redistricting panel, on Monday said sitting senators may not have to stand for re-election even if their districts change because of the current effort to reapportion the state Senate. Galvano, a lawyer and Bradenton Republican, spoke on the floor of the Senate during the first day of the Special Session to redraw the Senate’s district boundaries. He said that a new district’s number would keep the number of whatever old district it has the “most…

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Speaker Steve Crisafulli says Senate will (mostly) take the lead in redistricting Session

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The Florida House of Representatives briefly gaveled into Session in which Speaker Steve Crisafulli told his 120-member chamber to expect to take a back seat to the state Senate, which like the House returned to Tallahassee Monday for the third time this year. “Since the subject of this session is the Senate map, we’ve established the Senate to proceed first,” said Crisafulli. “I think it is wholly appropriate that body takes the lead on sending a compliant map to us. “If we…

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Senate Majority Leader outlines proposed schedule for redistricting Session

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The office of Republican Majority Leader state Sen. Bill Galvano on Friday released a detailed outline of the schedule lawmakers will follow as they redraw Senate maps in accordance with a consent judgment wherein the chamber admitted it violated the state constitution during the decennial redistricting process in 2011. A quick look at the schedule the majority leader wants Senate President Andy Gardiner to implement, per Galvano’s memo: Monday, October 19 o 12:00 p.m. – Special Session convenes. Chair Simmons and I will be available…

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Oscar Braynon rolls out first Senate redistricting plan ahead of Special Session

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State Sen. Oscar Braynon has filed the first proposed re-drawn Senate map under President Andy Gardiner‘s new redistricting regime, following a consent agreement under which the Senate admitted it violated state constitutional prohibitions against gerrymandering. Notably, the map does not feature a district that traverses the Tampa Bay, combining parts of St. Petersburg and Tampa by way of unpopulated territory in the middle, a maneuver the Florida Supreme Court ruled illegal in its opinion on the state’s congressional maps back in July. Instead, it…

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Legislature issues call for third special Session of 2016

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Legislative staff announced on Monday afternoon the proclamation that officially sets up the third special Session of 2016. Lawmakers will meet in Tallahassee beginning at 12 p.m. Monday on October 19 to revise the state’s Senate districts pursuant to a related Supreme Court ruling that struck down the Legislature’s congressional boundary lines back in July. Legislative leaders emphasized the Sunshine provisions the Supreme Court issued in that case, which chided lawmakers for their sloppy maintenance of records and correspondence. “Accordingly,…

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In directive, Florida elections chief declares it a “year of apportionment,” freeing up state Senate campaigns

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In an announcement that will only further shake up campaign machinations across the state, Secretary of State Ken Detzner has issued a directive declaring 2016 a “year of apportionment.” That means all candidates for the Senate – including those set to term out in 2018 – can continue to collect campaign funds and collect petitions across the state, not just the district for which they are running. “[W]hile state senate candidates seeking 2016 ballot placement will be running for office based on newly drawn district lines,…

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