Redistricting maps head to Florida House floor, critics cry foul

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..."It appears that all maps under consideration were drawn with an intent to gain partisan advantage and/or to protect incumbents," wrote representatives from the League of Women Voters, the National Council of La Raza and Common Cause in a joint letter to Weatherford late Thursday.

The 12-page letter cited examples in every map and in all regions of the state. The House's congressional map, for example, improved U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's South Florida district with more Republican areas, "thereby reducing her vulnerability" in a district that had been trending increasingly Democratic, it said.

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart's new District 25, also in South Florida, "received more Republican voters to make his seat safer,'' the group alleged. And in the Senate map, Sen. Jack Latvala, a Clearwater Republican "rumored to be eyeing the Senate Presidency, is likewise placed in a district with stronger Republican performance,'' the group wrote....


"A lot of people predicted there would be a January surprise within this House,'' he said, referring to the presumption that many legislators wouldn't stand to have so many incumbents pitted against each other. But, he said, "little did we know ... the January surprise would come from the very organization that told us that they didn't think we would be transparent or follow the law."


http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/elections/redistricting-maps-head-to-florida-house-floor-critics-cry-foul/1212784

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1. Gerrymandering is a time tested favorite.