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Coalition offers judge six variations for Miami and Tampa in new Senate maps

Leon County Circuit Court Judge George Reynolds was handed seven options for drawing the Senate maps on Wednesday, giving him the opportunity to be the “seamstress” he suggested might be needed to stitch together various pieces of the proposals.

Six of the proposed maps come from challengers to the lawsuit, a coalition of voters and voting groups led by the League of Women Voters. Each of their proposals is a modification of what they presented to Florida Senate during the special redistricting session that ended two weeks ago but the variations offer the judge a menu of options to two district areas: Miami Dade County and Tampa Bay.

The variations between the maps boil down to whether they create a fourth Hispanic district in Miami Dade County, or leave it at three, and whether they cross Tampa Bay to create an African American-majority district in Hillsborough.

Three of the coalition maps create a fourth Hispanic-majority districts in Miami Dade County while three create only three Hispanic-majority seats. Three of the maps cross Tampa Bay to create the black-majority seat while three do not.  Download 2015 11-18 Plfs' Not-Service of Remedial Senate Plans

Reynolds has the job of trying to sort them out during a five-day trial Dec. 14-18. He said in an emergency hearing last week that he might consider putting together pieces of different maps like “a good seamstress.”  

The House refrained from offering a map, relying on what it told the court last week --  that it would defer to the Senate to draw a map that rearranges the Senate’s political boundaries.

By contrast, the Senate leaders, upon the advice its attorneys, decided to create a new configuration, piecing together pieces of two different maps drawn by staff, including the bulk of one that was adopted by the full Senate.

But Senate leaders rejected the configuration for Miami that was voted upon by the Senate on a 22-18 vote, and instead chose a different version that was drawn by the staff as base map 9080. More here on that.

Here's how the coalition options break down:

Map

4 MD Hispanic seats

3 MD Hispanic seats

Crosses Tampa Bay

Doesn't Cross Tampa Bay

CPS2a

x

 

 

x

CPS2b

x

 

 

x

CPS3a

 

x

x

 

CPS3b

 

x

x

 

CPS4a

x

 

x

 

CPS4b

 

x

 

x

Here’s is how the coalition plaintiffs describe their maps; our highlights:

Coalition Reynolds highlights

 

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