Two congressional candidates in Pinellas County stop campaigns due to Florida's new redistricting map
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Two Democratic candidates for Congress in Pinellas County have now stopped their campaigns and dropped out of races because of Florida’s new redistricting map.
The controversial map from Governor Ron DeSantis picks up more Republican-leaning seats compared to the old map. During the 2022 legislative session, lawmakers approved a bi-partisan map, but DeSantis vetoed. A compromise map was redrawn, but the governor threw out that one as well and proposed his own map that was ultimately approved.
Voting rights and civil rights group filed a state and federal lawsuit against the map, and a state judge issued a ruling to block it last week. After issuing the temporary injunction against the congressional redistricting plan, the Leon County circuit judge ordered the ruling remain in effect while the state pursues an appeal.
The state on Friday appealed Judge Layne Smith’s temporary-injunction ruling to the 1st District Court of Appeal. That triggered an automatic stay, which put the ruling on hold. But Smith held a hearing Monday and sided with voting-rights groups that requested he lift the stay.
With elections supervisors preparing for the Aug. 23 primary elections, Smith pointed to the possibility that an appeal would not be resolved quickly. If the stay were not vacated, that could result in supervisors using the DeSantis-backed map that Smith said violated part of the state Constitution.
The state plans to ask the 1st District Court of Appeal to reimpose the stay Tuesday, Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for the secretary of state, said.
On Monday, State Representative Michele Rayner announced she will no longer run for Florida’s 13th district.
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"Because I think many people have argued that this has been an illegal gerrymander, definitely a partisan and certainly racially biased, and this district really became, I feel like, not able to have a free and fair election in Pinellas County," said State Rep. Rayner, D-District 70 in Pinellas County. "This is the time to organize, to mobilize, find a political home wherever that looks like, and to most certainly turn out the vote because your voice is your vote and your vote is your voice."
She’s not the only one bowing out of the race. State Representative Ben Diamond stopped his run last week, and he said the new map cuts St. Petersburg in half.
"We are one community over here on this side of the bay where I believe as a city, we should have one strong voice representing us in Washington," said State Rep. Diamond, D-District 68, Pinellas County. "They packed us in with Hillsborough to try to make that seat to pack all the Democrats together and to gerrymander the other seat to make it a safe Republican seat."
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The new map may put voters in a new district or move them to a new polling place. The Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections office said workers are figuring out the best way to let residents know. FOX13 Political Editor Craig Patrick said voters should still keep an eye on potential changes.
"Consider the possibility that that can change, because courts can still change the composition of these lines," said Patrick. "That's what history and current events suggest is going to happen here. But there is still the possibility that court in a different direction, and we still may not know where the lines actually go, perhaps until June, when one way or the other this has to be set into place."
The lawsuits over the new map call it illegal gerrymandering and a violation of the state’s constitution for fair districts. Political experts said the redistricting battle may take time.
The Florida judge who initially blocked the map said in the ruling that the map diminishes the power of Black voters in north Florida.