As Florida’s redistricting trial enters its second week, a Republican staffer took the stand again Tuesday to face questions about drawing and submitting maps. E-mails between state and national GOP operatives suggest politically motivated maps were submitted publicly under someone else’s name.
Republican Party of Florida official Frank Terraferma testified Tuesday he created and shared district maps with Republican strategists. Plaintiffs in the redistricting suit say FSU student Alex Posada then submitted the Republican-favoring maps through the Legislature’s public maps portal. On the stand, Terraferma denied knowing how Posada got them.
“I shared maps with other people. It’s certainly possible that other—in fact it is, it’s apparently a fact—that some people had submitted them. I wasn’t aware of who these people are, but some of my maps were submitted," he said.
Terraferma admits sending maps to Republican strategist Rich Heffley. But he says he never asked how they would be used. He also admits to deleting e-mails after drawing the maps—he says to free up space on his computer.
Plaintiffs are trying to prove the Republican-dominated Legislature drew new congressional maps to favor GOP candidates—which would violate the state constitution’s Fair Districts amendments voters passed in 2010.
Correction: The original version of the story incorrectly spelled Terraferma's name as "Terrafirma."
