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Florida Supreme Court will consider challenge to DeSantis' redistricting map
POLITICOTALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida’s contested congressional map that helped Republicans capture the U.S. House may get left in place for the 2024 elections after the state’s highest court signaled it could be months before it rules on a lawsuit challenging the current districts.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawyers for the GOP-controlled Legislature had urged the Florida Supreme Court to keep in place an appeals court ruling that upheld a map that dismantled the seat that former Democratic Rep. Al Lawson held and which led to a net gain of four seats for Republicans during the 2022 election cycle. That map was muscled into law by DeSantis.
The high court, in a two-page decision, unanimously said on Wednesday that it would accept the legal challenge. But the timeline laid out by the court makes it highly improbable the justices will render a ruling before congressional qualifying begins in late April. The schedule instead suggested that the court may accept legal arguments in the case until late May — and could also schedule a hearing before the court at some point.
This is a scenario that those who filed the lawsuit had been trying to avoid. Last summer, voting rights and civil rights groups suing over the map reached an agreement with the Legislature and the DeSantis administration to narrow the scope of the lawsuit to focus primarily on Lawson’s seat. Shortly after, a circuit court judge said the map violated Florida’s constitution and ordered legislators to redraw it. Before the ruling, the two sides agreed to expedite any appeal in a hope to have the state Supreme Court resolve the case ahead of this year’s legislative session.
The case wasn’t resolved, however, because the entire 1st District Court of Appeal, in an unusual move, took up the appeal and ultimately overturned the lower court decision.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and lawyers for the GOP-controlled Legislature had urged the Florida Supreme Court to keep in place an appeals court ruling that upheld a map that dismantled the seat that former Democratic Rep. Al Lawson held and which led to a net gain of four seats for Republicans during the 2022 election cycle. That map was muscled into law by DeSantis.
The high court, in a two-page decision, unanimously said on Wednesday that it would accept the legal challenge. But the timeline laid out by the court makes it highly improbable the justices will render a ruling before congressional qualifying begins in late April. The schedule instead suggested that the court may accept legal arguments in the case until late May — and could also schedule a hearing before the court at some point.
This is a scenario that those who filed the lawsuit had been trying to avoid. Last summer, voting rights and civil rights groups suing over the map reached an agreement with the Legislature and the DeSantis administration to narrow the scope of the lawsuit to focus primarily on Lawson’s seat. Shortly after, a circuit court judge said the map violated Florida’s constitution and ordered legislators to redraw it. Before the ruling, the two sides agreed to expedite any appeal in a hope to have the state Supreme Court resolve the case ahead of this year’s legislative session.
The case wasn’t resolved, however, because the entire 1st District Court of Appeal, in an unusual move, took up the appeal and ultimately overturned the lower court decision.
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