Florida has approved new congressional boundaries that eliminate two districts represented by Black Democrats, in addition to giving Republicans an advantage in as many as 20 of 28 districts. With a 68-38 vote, the House decided to send the map to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has been defending the plan, CNN reports.
Republicans could pick up four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the map is approved. The map also dissolves Florida’s 5th Congressional District, which is currently represented by Democrat Al Lawson and connects Black communities from Tallahassee to Jacksonville. Although Jacksonville holds the largest Black population in the state, the city would now be divided into two Republican-leaning districts.
The new map also transforms Florida’s 10th Congressional District, moving the Orlando-area district east toward white communities. The seat is represented by Val Demings, a Black Democrat currently running for U.S. Senate.
Opponents of the new map say the plan violates the Fair Districts state constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2010, which requires lawmakers to give minority communities an opportunity to “elect representatives of their choice.”
Several Black members of the Florida House staged a protest on the chamber floor on Thursday before the measure passed with a 68-38 vote.
“I am occupying the Florida House chamber floors to ensure that Black people will not be forgotten about. We are here to stay,” state Rep. Angie Nixon said during the protest, CNN reports. “We are occupying the floor, we’re doing good trouble. Ron DeSantis is a bully, Ron DeSantis does not care about Black people.”
According to The Washington Post, if approved, Florida could potentially only have two Black members of Congress.
