TU: PolitiJax: Top Democrat says Senate’s redrawn maps will need more than tweaks

[Patricia M. McBride]

My feeling on this is that democrats would really like to draw districts that all favor them rather than have districts that are fairly drawn.  I think, at this time, we are all sick of this mess which was in part brought about because of the fair districts law that many thought would get rid of gerry mandered districts...........

 

Senate leaders are wrong to argue that they can make limited changes to a redistricting plan that was found unconstitutional, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith told reporters Tuesday.

Speaking on a conference call the day before a special redistricting session begins, Smith blasted Senate Reapportionment Chairman Don Gaetz’s contention that the upper chamber can simply tweak its maps to answer the complaints of the Florida Supreme Court.

On Friday, the court threw out the Senate plan and specifically highlighted eight districts that justices said were unconstitutional. Senate leaders have suggested that the ruling essentially upheld all but 20 percent of the 40 districts drawn by the chamber — so minor renovations were needed.

“We’re not starting with a clean sheet of paper, as some of our critics wanted us to,” Gaetz said. “We’re starting I think with a road map that will help us get where we need to go.”

But Smith said that’s not possible, in part because redrawing the eight districts will set off a chain reaction in the surrounding districts that could ripple across the state.

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-03-14/story/politijax-top...