TALLAHASSEE -- A new congressional map emerged from the Florida Senate on Thursday, this one splitting Sarasota and Manatee counties into two congressional districts but keeping each county whole.
Sen. Bill Galvano, the Bradenton Republican leading the Senate redistricting committee, initiated the proposal as a last-ditch effort to agreement with the House and avoid having the courts draw a new map.
The House and Senate adjourned a special session last week without an agreement on the congressional redistricting plan. House leaders were reticent to make major changes to the “base map” created by legislative staff, while senators wanted more extensive revisions.
Galvano billed the new proposal as a “compromise” plan that addresses some of the House’s concerns while maintaining certain positions taken by the Senate, including keeping all of Sarasota County in one congressional district.
“It is about compromise,” Galvano wrote in a memo to the Senate.
Rep. Jose Oliva, the House redistricting committee chairman, responded by saying he was "open to any idea that could constitutionally be considered an improvement” to the map passed by the House, but noted that the House map was a “bipartisan, amended, debated” product that was produced in cooperation with Senate redistricting staff.
“What we passed was not just the ‘House map’,” Oliva wrote, adding he wants to see how the Supreme Court plans to proceed with the map-drawing process before commenting further on the Senate proposal.
The new Senate map -– which appears to be a long shot -– would make a number of revisions to the base map, primarily in the Tampa Bay area and Central Florida.
Florida Senate Reapportionment Chairman Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton. A new congressional redistricting plan that would divide Sarasota County between two congressional districts now heads to the Senate, which on Wednesday will begin its debate on a competing plan (SB 2B) that would keep Sarasota County entirely within U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s Congressional District 16. AP ARCHIVE
But unlike the map approved by the Senate last week and opposed by the House, the new proposal keeps one congressional district entirely in Orange County. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, had been pushing to have another Hillsborough County-centered congressional district at the expense of Orange County.
The Senate's latest proposal would still create another district primarily in Hillsborough County. The District 16 seat held by U.S. Rep Vern Buchanan -- currently covering all of Sarasota County and nearly all of Manatee County -- would shift north to encompass all of Manatee County and much of Hillsborough.
About 52 percent of the voting age population in District 16 would be in Hillsborough under the new Senate proposal, while 48 percent would be in Manatee. Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, would no longer live in the district.
Instead, Buchanan would live in District 17, which would now include all of Sarasota, DeSoto and Hardee counties and parts of Charlotte, Polk and Lee.
Buchanan has pushed to keep all of Sarasota County in one district -- the base map divides Sarasota County between Districts 16 and 17 -– but he questioned the new proposal, noting that the state Supreme Court did not target District 16 in a ruling that found eight other districts unconstitutional.
"The Sarasota-Manatee district is one of the most constitutionally pure of all 27 congressional districts in Florida," Buchanan said. "Shouldn't the Legislature focus on fixing the eight districts that were found in violation instead of the one everyone agrees is a model district?"
State Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, also said Thursday that she prefers the current configuration of District 16 that keeps Sarasota and Manatee counties together.
“It just seems like such common sense to put it back the way it was and move on,” Detert said.
But Detert added that “if this is Plan B I’m fine with that plan,” noting that Sarasota was paired with Hardee, DeSoto and Charlotte counties in a previous congressional district.
Detert does not think the House will go along, though.
“That’s still probably too much of a change at this time to suit the House,” she said.
One congressman who would be significantly impacted by the proposed new Senate map is U.S. Rep Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee. Rooney would be drawn out of District 17 -- which would become a Sarasota County-centered seat -- and his new district would stretch north toward Orlando and pick up a large number of minority voters.
The Legislature has until late September to draw a new congressional map and could still convene another session, but the courts already are moving to take over the process.
A lower court judge has asked for guidance from the Supreme Court on how to proceed after the recent legislative deadlock, and the court is expected to outline the next steps today.
The League of Women Voters, Common Cause and others challenging the current congressional districts filed a brief with the Supreme Court Thursday urging the justices to redraw the map themselves and not defer to a lower court.
“This court should promptly adopt a remedial plan,” they wrote.
Staff Writer Lloyd Dunkelberger contributed to this report
