2015 UCF Science Café: You are invited to come and listen to UCF and
national researchers talk about their work while enjoying wine and
appetizers.
Dr. Aubrey Jewett
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science
University of Central Florida
In 2008 Florida voters approved two Fair District Amendments to
the state constitution that set standards for redistricting. Florida
Republicans controlled the redistricting process in 2012 but were required to
follow these new guidelines. Ultimately, the Justice Department and
Florida Courts approved the maps that were drawn by Republican legislators, and
candidates ran in those new districts for the 2012 and 2014 elections. However,
the Florida Supreme Court did require substantial changes to the originally
drawn Senate map and lawsuits continue over the Senate and Congressional plans
(with the congressional map being redrawn for 2016). Despite some problems,
overall the new process worked fairly well compared to previous redistricting
efforts in Florida and compared to other states where partisan legislatures
draw the lines. The new legislative and congressional districts were more
compact, kept more counties and cities whole, protected minority voting rights,
and did not favor or disfavor incumbents (although there were some signs of
incumbency protection in the Senate). However, Republicans were able to
maintain an overall partisan advantage in the new districts and keep firm
control of the legislature and congressional delegation despite the Democratic
edge in statewide registration of more than 4 percent (or more than 500,000
registered voters).
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