by Ben Whedon
Florida lawmakers on Wednesday approved a slate of congressional maps expected to bolster Republican chances in the midterms.
The map largely limits Democratic-leaning districts to Orlando and a series of urban areas on the southwest coast. It is expected to face legal challenges, according to Politico.
The votes on Wednesday send the bill to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who pushed for the legislature to advance the redraw in response to a Virginia referendum.
Also on Wednesday, the Supreme Court released a decision eliminating race-based congressional districts that is expected to trigger a series of redraws across the South.
After this ruling, DeSanits said, “The SCOTUS ruling also invalidates the below provisions of the FL Constitution requiring the use of race in redistricting:…districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice.”
Also, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would be working “with the Legislature to change New York’s redistricting process so we can fight back against Washington’s attempts to rig our democracy.
“The Supreme Court has been chipping away at our elections for years. It is clearly carrying out Donald Trump’s will with this decision. New York has always led the fight for voting rights and we’ll lead again,” she said.
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Ben Whedon is a reporter for Just the News. Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network and contributed to this story.
Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Ron DeSantis.
