FLORIDA REDISTRICTING: UPDATE

FLORIDA REDISTRICTING: A new draft congressional map "that could alter the futures of several members of the state’s U.S. House delegation was released by the Legislature on Wednesday, days before the beginning of a special session where redrawn lines will be approved." Rep. Corrine Brown (D-05) "announced she would hold a press conferenceThursday outside the federal courthouse in Orlando. It is widely assumed that Brown will at some point launch a legal challenge under the Voting Rights Act." (Florida Times-Union)

In the new map, Brown's district, which the Voting Rights Act designates as a minority-access district, would see its African-American voting-age population drop from 50 percent to 45 percent. Rep. Dan Webster's (R-10) district would go from 70 percent white to 44 percent. And Rep. Gwen Graham's (D-02) district would go from 24 percent African-American to 13 percent. (Hotline reporting)

The proposed map also puts Reps. Ted Deutch (D-21) and Lois Frankel (D-22) in the same district. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)