FL Redistricting Session implodes

[Fritz Walter]

A special legislative session to redraw congressional district lines ended in chaos Friday as senators staged an abrupt walkout and an angry House refused Senate requests to extend the session until next week.

Gov. Rick Scott has the power to force the Legislature to reconvene and agree on a map before a court-imposed deadline of next Tuesday, Aug. 25. Scott had no immediate comment on the latest legislative meltdown.

Facing an impasse over a remapping of Florida congressional districts, the Senate requested a conference committee to resolve their differences and the House refused.

"You don't get up and leave," said Rep. Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, the House redistricting chairman, who called the Legislature "dysfunctional."

So the courts may very easily end up re-drawing Florida's congressional district lines. Cue conservatives' self-righteous indignation about "all them activist judges," simply because their elected officials can't do their jobs!

Stay tuned. Film at Eleven!

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article31733529.html#storylink=cpy

[hobbit709]

1. It's WON'T do their jobs, not can't.

[csziggy]

5. Given the personalities involved and who owns their souls

And the court's instructions, "can't" might be the correct word to use.

[Vincardog]

2. I hope the court draws he lines using equal size population squares

[gratuitous]

3. The party of personal responsibility strikes again

I think the Republicans want the courts to draw the district lines, because then they can complain about it right along with their dingbat supporters, always eliding the fact that the reason those activist judges had to do the legislature's job is because the Republicans refused to.

Luckily for Florida Republicans, their supporters are such low-information cave dwellers that the facts will never quite get to them, and they'll go right back to the polls and return these dumbasses for another term.

[stevenleser]

4. This is a significant development. Florida's Congressional Delegation currently has

17 Republicans and 9 Democrats.

If you are thinking there is a problem with that when Florida is a Swing state that is often split pretty closely down the middle in voting, you are not alone.

This by itself won't make the House winnable again for Democrats, but if it was made even at 13 Republicans and 13 Democrats, that is a swing of eight seats. We would still have 50 or so seats to go to break even in the House.

[zipplewrath]

6. Yup

It's not that I expect Florida to "go blue". I expect it to go "purple". Very democratic places have GOP reps because of these maps. Any rational redistricting will even things up tremendously.

Texas is next.

[dsc]

8. realistically I doubt we would gain more than 4 seats even with a fair map

since we are so concentrated.

[stevenleser]

9. I wonder. I mean, you might be right, but there has to be mathematical modeling software out there

that could take a challenge like this and make districts that accurately reflect the voter registration of the population in terms of elected representatives.

[dsc]

10. that would have to become the first priority

which it currently isn't. Even fair maps are drawn as much to keep communities together as to be representative of the desires of the population.

[Fritz Walter]

11. From your keyboard to Dog's eyes!

I live in Jacksonville. Specifically the 4th District, which is currently drawn to overwhelmingly favor Ander Crenshaw, stretching to Tally-town. Long ago, I gave up on trying to express my views and concerns to his office. When they don't outright ignore me, they tell me that his mind is made-up, and I can just go piss up a rope (in much more polite terms, but their intent is abundantly clear).
Somehow, his other constituents overlook his dismal failure to bring another aircraft carrier to NS Mayport after the JFK was decommissioned. Bottom line: he cannot even deliver that one small slice of bacon to a district that has so many (more) pressing needs.
When I've begged the local Democratic Party to offer a candidate who can have a fighting chance against this washed-up politician, they shrug, wring their hands and try to change the subject.
Redistricting is THAT important to me!

[DirkGently]

7. Republicans are furious their gerrymandering got

smacked down by the courts.

But I seriously doubt anything will be resolved without courts or a separate non-partisan agency just drawing them.

Already, though, some of the districts are improved for 2016.

They are stamping their little feets.