From backing bans on Covid-19 safety measures to supporting bans on socially conscious school lesson plans, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has become a front-runner in the race to become America’s most autocratic official.
His new redistricting proposal for Florida just solidified his position.
On Sunday, DeSantis’ office submitted his proposal for a way to redraw Florida’s district lines, and unsurprisingly, his plan would diminish the power of Black and Hispanic voters in the state. The governor’s proposal isn’t binding, but he wields veto power over any redistricting proposal passed in the GOP-led state House and Senate.
Florida’s Senate redistricting committee already agreed on a map that will give Republicans a 16-12 edge over Democrats when it comes to favorable districts, but DeSantis wants more. The governor’s map would give Republicans an 18-10 edge.
DeSantis’ map “would eliminate a North Florida seat long designed to have African American representation and could create a majority white Democratic primary in the Orange County district represented by outgoing U.S. Rep. Val Demings, who is Black,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The Sentinel also found DeSantis’ proposal would “dilute Hispanic voting power in South Florida by splitting up Hispanic voters into several different districts.”
Ryan Newman, the governor’s general counsel, said the administration had “legal concerns” about the Senate’s proposed maps, but he didn’t outline those legal concerns. Instead, he said, the administration’s proposed gerrymander is “an alternative proposal, which we can support, that adheres to federal and state requirements and addresses our legal concerns.”
That convenient excuse is just a condensed expression of conservative thinking that’s become increasingly popular in the Trump-controlled GOP: elections that favor Republicans are the only fair ones, and all others defy the law.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog.