The Florida House held its first committee meeting to discuss Congressional redistricting Thursday. Hundreds of people from around the state traveled to speak out against the move but were not given time to speak during the meeting.
The talks are coming amid national pressure from President Donald Trump to draw new maps that could benefit Republicans ahead of the midterms. House Redistricting Committee Chair Mike Redondo said drawing maps to favor one party over the other is not why the committee is meeting.
“I'm not naive to the fact that there is much public discourse around mid-decade redistricting. Let me be very clear, our work as a committee and as a legislative body is not directed by the work of other states or partisan gamesmanship,” he said, which was immediately followed by laughter from the protestors that filled the committee room.
Donna Gillroy traveled almost seven hours to the meeting from Naples to oppose redistricting.
“How this happens, this shredding of the democratic process happens here, and it's a direct from Washington directive, and Florida does not want to be on the wrong side here,” she said.
Genesis Robinson works with Equal Ground, one of the groups that helped to organize the protest. He said he thinks partisan politics are at the center of the redistricting effort.
“Prior to the President Donald Trump coming to the state and asking for the state to deliver more Republican seats in Congress, Florida had not even thought about doing a mid-decade redraw. And so, I think that call really was the genesis, if you will, of this process kicking off,” he said.
Governor Ron DeSantis has said he intends to call a special session to focus on redistricting in the spring. State Republican Party leaders have said they think as many as 5 more seats could be gained for the GOP in redistricting.