redstate.com By Bonchie
I have no idea what is going through the heads of some of the Florida Republicans currently in charge of the redistricting process. With Democrat gerrymanders reaching extreme levels in places like Illinois, California, and New York, you’d think all members of the GOP would be united in fighting fire with fire. Instead, some have chosen the path of not just unilateral surrender, but of actively seeking to protect Democrat seats.
Florida’s Senate passed a map that would put the Republican advantage at only four seats (16-12 R to D), essentially handing the state’s pickups due to the census to Democrats. Florida’s House has not been much better on the issue. State Rep. Thomas Leek (R-FL), who chairs the committee in charge of redistricting, asked Gov. DeSantis to provide a witness to argue the governor’s case for a legal map. He then turned around and enabled the trashing of that witness as biased even though he was there because the House requested he appear.
State Rep. Tyler Sirois (R-FL) went so far as to join with his Democrat colleagues in outright opposing any attempt to adjust the current map, actively siding with arguments that minority representation overrides legal questions about district compactness.
