South Florida has another racial gerrymandering fight on its hands, and the outcome could dictate who gets sent to Washington and Tallahassee to represent millions of local residents.
A swath of plaintiffs from Miami-Dade County, including progressive political advocacy groups Engage Miami and Cubanos Pa’lante, as well as the ACLU Club of Florida International University, have filed a lawsuit against the Florida House of Representatives in federal court alleging a broad scheme of gerrymandering that violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The groups are represented by the ACLU of Florida and law firms out of New York and Washington, D.C.
The lawsuit takes aim at four U.S. congressional districts in South Florida : Districts 19, 26, 27 and 28. It also challenges seven Florida House of Representatives districts: 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118 and 119. All the district seats named in the lawsuit are held by Republican representatives. (A copy of the complaint is embedded at the end of this story.)