Busted: Florida Republicans' 2012 Redistricting Plan Thrown Out By Federal Judge

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Republicans are gradually learning a difficult lesson: If you’re going to do something illegal, make sure you don’t get caught.

In yet another clear-cut example of Republicans attempting to break the law for political gain, a Florida Circuit Court judge threw out Republicans’ 2012 congressional redistricting plan on Thursday after seeing evidence that “made a mockery” of the rules and transparency required for the process.

In a forty-one page ruling, Judge Terry Lewis noted that two of Florida’s congressional districts need to be redrawn as they violated a “Fair Districts Florida” standard approved by voters in 2010 as a way to ensure that legislators would be banned from favoring or protecting incumbents. In his strongly worded ruling, Lewis slammed state Republicans who had been involved in the redistricting process by saying:

“What is clear to me from the evidence … is that this group of Republican political consultants or operatives did in fact conspire to manipulate and influence the redistricting process. They managed to taint the redistricting process and the resulting map with improper partisan intent.

…They made a mockery of the Legislature’s proclaimed transparent and open process of redistricting by doing all of this in the shadow of that process and they went to great lengths to conceal from the public their plan and their participation in it.

…They might have successfully concealed their scheme and their actions from the public, had it not been for the plaintiffs’ determined efforts to uncover it in this case.”

Judge Lewis’ ruling follows a 13-day trial in June. The plaintiffs he refers to consisted are a coalition of groups who brought the redistricting shenanigans to light, including the League of Women Voters of Florida as well as Common Cause, a DC non-profit liberal advocacy group. These groups brought forth convincing evidence of gerrymandering and successfully pointed out that Democrats hold a slight edge in voter registration in Florida and yet Republicans have 17 of the state’s 27 representatives in the House. This fact brought to light the state’s 2012 redistricting plan, which greatly favored the state’s Republican Party and was so egregious that it became clear the Republicans had drawn it that way to protect their majority in the House of Representatives. In his ruling, Lewis noted that prominent Republicans who chaired the redistricting committee had also been conveniently involved in the fight against the “Fair District Florida” amendments that ensured the new districts would be created as fairly and as impartially as possible.

The two districts in question actually are split with one Democrat and one Republican representative. The Democratic representative for one of the districts in question is Corrine Brown, who represents the Jacksonville area. The Republican representative for the other district in question in Daniel Webster, who represents the Orlando area. Should it be that these two districts are redrawn, it would affect neighboring districts and would cause a shock wave effect throughout the state as these two districts would then spill over into other districts and vice versa. The ruling is expected to be appealed by Republican state leaders and could make for interesting midterm elections in the Sunshine State.

In today’s day and age, gerrymandering remains a significant threat to our democracy. In 2012, House Democrats won the popular vote by 1.17 million votes and yet did not gain control of the House of Representatives. It was only the second time in the last seventy years that a political party had won the popular vote but not won control of the House. By ensuring a Republican-led House, Speaker John Boehner and his party of no have successfully managed to be the least productive Congress on record. By acquiescing to the Tea Party loonies, Boehner and House Republicans have successfully managed to avoid meaningful votes on immigration, ENDA, and raising the minimum wage all while voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act over fifty times. Thanks to gerrymandering at the state level, Republicans maintained control of the House despite being grotesquely out of touch with the American people.

For Democrats and independents, they need to take heed with the lessons learned from 2010. Elections matter not only at the national level but are equally as important at the state level. For all states with a hard-fought battle for governor, Democrats and independents need to get out to vote or else face the consequences. As we saw in 2010, the consequences of Republican-led state governments follow a remarkably similar recipe for disaster: cutting funding for education, refusing to expand Medicaid, attacking and vilifying unions, and restricting women’s access to safe, affordable health care. We have seen a prime example of this in the state of Virginia where Democrats and Republicans have fought tooth and nail in an equally divided state government over whether or not to expand Medicaid. In states like Florida and Texas with high-profile battles for governor, each and every vote will be necessary to ensure that a Republican does not takeover and lead his state to inevitable ruin.

Unlike Republicans, Democrats do not need to lie, cheat, and steal to win elections. They just need to vote.