Florida map ruling is a loss for Black voters and ‘uphill battle’ for Dems hoping to win back House majority

“These judges are upholding white supremacy,” says Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross told theGrio.

Civil rights advocates blasted a federal court for upholding Florida’s congressional map, which they deem to be unconstitutional and discriminatory against Black voters.

Nick Warren, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), told theGrio that the map, which will be used for the 2024 elections, is “politically lopsided” and disproportionately impacts minority voters.

April Albright, legal director and chief of staff at Black Voters Matter, said the decision from a three-judge federal panel is “disappointing and discouraging.”

“Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis accomplished exactly what he wanted to accomplish,” Albright told theGrio.

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross is not surprised that the federal judges landed on a ruling that is “upholding white supremacy.”

Cross said, “We live in an era where the courts can no longer be depended upon to salvage civil rights.” She continued: “For federal judges to uphold the map tells us just how far we have yet to travel as Black people fighting for equity.”

On Wednesday, the three-judge panel unanimously upheld Florida’s 2022 congressional redistricting map. This decision came after Black Voters Matter Fund’s Capacity Building Institute and other civil rights groups repeatedly argued that the state’s congressional map diluted the voting power of Black residents in the 5th Congressional District and violated their 14th and 15th Amendment rights.

In the opinion, the court wrote that the plaintiffs failed to show that “the Legislature acted with race as a motivating factor” in creating the congressional map and purposely discriminated against Black voters.

Judge Adalberto Jordan wrote a concurring opinion, stating that although the plaintiffs failed to prove the Florida General Assembly acted with ill intent, he still believes DeSantis used “race as a motivating factor” when creating the 2022 congressional map.

DeSantis, wrote Jordan, “used race impermissibly as a means to” create the redistricting plan. However, since the plaintiffs failed to prove that either the legislature or DeSantis created the map with a “discriminatory purpose and a discriminatory effect,” the court ruled against Black voters led by Common Cause Florida.

Albright of Black Voters Matter told theGrio that Jordan’s concurring opinion gave the public “insight” into how this case should have been approached.

Warren of the ACLU said the judge’s concurring opinion illustrates that DeSantis purposely “intended to dismantle a district that was drawn to advance Black representation.”

Warren added, “When it comes to the governor, this map was motived by a desire to harm Black voters and to undermine the fair representation that the Florida constitution protects.”

In 2022, the congressional map was enacted into law and eliminated two districts created to help Black voters elect leaders of their choice. The map also subsequently wiped-out Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson’s seat, a Black congressman who served the former 5th Congressional District from 2017 to 2023.

On the contrary, Republicans benefited from the redistricting plan, which added four Republican seats, granting the GOP a total of 20 of the 28 congressional seats in the state. Moreover, the additional seats helped the GOP flip the U.S. House during the 2022 midterm elections.

While House Democrats aim to win back the U.S. House of Representatives – and subsequently elect Rep. Hakeem Jeffries as the first Black speaker in U.S. history – after the 2024 election, Cross said the Florida map could hinder their efforts.

“It will be an uphill battle to elect more progressive-minded, even moderate-minded individuals,” she told theGrio. “It doesn’t make it impossible, but this map makes it extremely difficult.”

The Democratic strategist said Florida Republicans’ redistricting plan “allows for the party to choose its voters.” However, it does not allow “voters to choose their elected officials.”

In February, House Democrats held their annual party retreat at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, Va., to strategize how the party can fulfill its motto, “Finish the Job,” and take back control of the House, maintain a majority in the U.S. Senate and ensure President Joe Biden is re-elected on Nov. 5.

In a previous interview with theGrio, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said House Republicans failed to accomplish “anything since they’ve taken over and gotten the majority in the House.”

U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., previously told theGrio that House GOP members have only accomplished “electing two House speakers” and employing efforts in an attempt to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  

Johnson added that House Democrats “want to put people over politics [and] make life better for the American people.”

For now, Warren of the ACLU says, “We will most likely get another election in which voting rights for people across the state regardless of race, but of course particularly for Black voters, will be impaired and setback.”

He added that following the federal court’s decision this week, civil rights groups will consider whether to petition the U.S. Supreme Court to hear oral arguments in the case.

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