Florida legislature to redraw district lines in special session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The Florida legislature begins a special session this week to redraw two congressional districts to comply with a judge's ruling.

Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis set an Aug. 15 deadline when he issued his decision Friday. In an email to his colleagues, state House Speaker Will Weatherford, a Republican, said the special session will begin Thursday.

Lewis found that two districts, the 5th in north Florida held by Democrat Corinne Brown, and the 10th, including parts of Orlando, represented by Republican Dan Webster, were improperly drawn. He said the map was aimed at benefiting Republicans, with the 5th, which stretches from the Jacksonville area to just north of Orlando, drawn to put Democratic strongholds into a single district.

Republican leaders appeared optimistic that they could redraw the map with little change.

"Because the court held intact 25 of the state's 27 congressional districts as the Legislature drew them, I believe we can and should meet the court's requirements with minimal impact on the rest of the state," Florida Republican Senate President Don Gaetz said Monday.

One unresolved question is how this year's congressional election will be handled. Lewis refused a Republican motion to allow the current map to stay in place through November, but did not rule out changing his mind.

The judge also suggested he might order a special election.

The primary is only three weeks away, and county election officials said some military ballots have already been received. Civil rights groups and Republican leaders both oppose a special election, with the civil rights groups arguing that the black vote would drop significantly.

"We intend to vigorously defend the integrity and validity of Floridians' votes that have already been cast, and that will be cast in the upcoming election," Weatherford said in a statement.