HaHaHa. "GOP Establishment in Florida" generally means Jeb Bush. The new districts went into effect before the 2012 midterms.
7/10/14, "Judge Rules G.O.P. Illegally Redrew Florida Districts," NY Times, Lizette Alvarez, Tampa. July 11 print editions
"In a sharply worded decision, a Florida judge ruled late Thursday that Republicans illegally redrew the state’s congressional districts, saying they “made a mockery” of an amendment meant to inject fairness into a process that has long been politically tainted.
Judge
Terry P. Lewis of Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit ordered that two
districts be redrawn — one, the 10th District, now held by
Representative Daniel Webster, a Republican, and the other, the Fifth
District, held by Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat. In redrawing
them, neighboring districts are also likely to be affected.
The
state is expected to appeal. The ruling, issued less than two months
before Florida’s primary, is unlikely to affect this year’s elections.
But if it stands it could have broad implications for the 2016
elections.
Judge
Lewis delivered a blistering, 41-page attack on Florida’s redistricting
process, reserving his most scathing criticism for the Republican
establishment, including political operatives. He said it was clear that
Republican operatives had managed to “infiltrate and influence” the
Florida Legislature.
“Republican
political consultants or operatives did, in fact, conspire to
manipulate and influence the redistricting process,” the judge wrote. At
another point, he quoted George Washington, who warned of “cunning,
ambitious and unprincipled men.”
Susan Hepworth, a spokeswoman for the Republican Party
of Florida, said late Thursday in an e-mail that party officials were
reviewing the decision and were not yet prepared to comment.
The
ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters and
other groups that accused Republicans of manipulating political maps to
favor their candidates.
In
2010, Floridians voted to pass two constitutional amendments that
required lawmakers to draw congressional and state legislative districts
more cohesively and without favoring a political party. The
maps were redrawn in 2012, before the midterm elections. They were
approved by the Republican-dominated Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick
Scott, a Republican.
During
a two-week trial in May and June, a parade of political operatives,
lawmakers and legislative staff members took the stand to testify about
what they did and did not do during the redistricting process. It turned
out that legislative leaders destroyed many documents relevant to the
process, a move that Judge Lewis sharply criticized on Thursday.
“You have to wonder,” he said."
.
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