The Shape Of Things: FL-01The district: Florida's 1st Congressional District covers the state's western panhandle and according to
FiveThirtyEight has a 99.9% chance of being represented by a Republican.
Who represents it? Matt Gaetz. A recent
Rolling Stone article tells you about everything you need to know: "He plasters his face across Fox News; he feuds with his enemies on Twitter; he orchestrates controversial publicity stunts like inviting Holocaust denier Charles Johnson to the State of the Union in 2018 (Gaetz later claimed he didn't know about Johnson's anti-Semitism), or introduces dead-in-the-water legislation to disband the Environmental Protection Agency." If you're wondering what drives Gaetz, it's pretty simple. Take it from the man himself after he got a poll back showing high favorability within his own party:
"Republicans in Florida would do unspeakable things for the numbers I have with the base."
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How did we get here? Redistricting in Florida has been a roller coaster. Despite what appeared to be a big victory for reform in 2010, the maps were still rigged through backroom deals and then litigated in the courts over the course of several years, ultimately improving but not totally fixing the maps. The Fair Districts amendments that voters passed at the ballot in 2010 aimed to remove partisan bias from any future maps. And at first, the legislature even appeared to engage the public in the redistricting process, holding 26 public hearings. But it was all a front, while the state's maps were actually being gerrymandered in backroom meetings happening at the Republican Party's headquarters. Those meetings were what ultimately led a court to rule that "unconstitutional partisan intent" tainted the redistricting process and ultimately led Florida's Supreme Court to approve new maps that redrew some -- but not all -- of the state's congressional districts in 2015.
Why does this matter? Gaetz represents a district where he knows the general election isn't as consequential as a conservative primary challenger. It's why he, and lawmakers in so many gerrymandered districts -- in FL and nationwide -- stake out extreme positions. It couldn't be clearer how extremism and gerrymandering contribute to the reality of how our democracy is broken.
What's next for FL? Census, census, census. The state's population is booming, which could lead to it gaining two congressional districts. This makes the 2020 Census that is now underway extremely important in the Sunshine State. Inaction by Florida governor Ron DeSantis is already endangering an accurate count by underfunding the census -- it is one of 24 states that have not spent a penny on census-related efforts. This is further compounded by fear in immigrant communities of completing the form after the Trump administration's failed attempt to add a "citizenship question" to the survey.
Florida is one of All On The Line's priority states, but we're working against power-hungry incumbents and well-funded special interests. In order to restore fairness in districts across the state, it is critical that we fund these plans with sustained donations. Can you help our efforts in all our priority states by adopting FL-01 with a recurring contribution?
Thanks for reading,
Team AOTL
All On The Line is the grassroots advocacy campaign supported by the National Redistricting Action Fund. Support our work to end gerrymandering.
