Alternative Districts: Florida State Senate
This part of my legislative district series is a little different than the rest. While the map presented below is one that I created, the districts are mostly the same when compared to the actual map. This is mostly due to the fact that there was a court ordered redraw of the state’s senate districts a few years ago, which made the districts much more appropriate. My version will show a few different interpretations of what some districts could accomplish.
North Florida 1-8
1st. Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa (part); R+19
2nd. Bay, Holmes, Jackson, Walton, Washington, Okaloosa (part); R+26
3rd. Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Hamilton, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor,
Wakulla; D+4
4th. Nassau, Duval (part); R+17
5th. Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Lafayette, Levy, Suwannee, Union,
Marion (part); R+25
6th. Duval (part); D+10
7th. Flagler, St. John’s, Volusia (part); R+11
8th. Alachua, Putnam, Marion (part); R+1
The 1st and 2nd districts are different only in Okaloosa County. The 1st now trades with the 2nd part of the county mostly north of I-10 with part of Eglin Air Force Base. The 3rd district is the same as the actual district. The remaining districts are only slightly different than the actual districts, mostly due to the constraints of DRA which doesn’t allow splitting precincts.
Central Florida 9-26
9. Seminole, Volusia (part); R+4
10. Citrus, Hernando, Pasco (part); R+12
11. Orange (part); D+12
12. Sumter, Lake (part), Marion (part); R+15
13. Orange (part); D+8
14. Brevard (part), Volusia (part); R+9
15. Osceola, Orange (part); D+10
16. Pasco (part), Pinellas (part); R+5
17. Indian River, Brevard (part); R+10
18. Hillsborough (part); D+1
19. Hillsborough (part); D+9
20. Hillsborough (part), Pasco (part), Polk (part); R+10
21. Manatee, Hillsborough (part); R+9
22. Lake (part), Polk (part); R+3
23. Sarasota, Charlotte (part); R+7
24. Pinellas (part); D+4
25. Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach (part); R+4
26. DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Highlands, Okeechobee, Charlotte (part), Lee (part), Polk (part); R+15
Districts 9, 11-15, 17, 18, 21-23, 25, and 26 are mostly kept the same. In Pasco County, the 10th takes land along the coast instead of going down the middle of the county. The 20th now takes in most of the county, while the 16th only retains a small part along the Pinellas County border. In Pinellas County, there are now only two districts: 16 and 24. This moves both districts to the left, but this also means the 19th loses St. Petersburg, which moves the district rightward, although still solidly Democratic, as well as lowering the amount of Black voters. The actual 19th is about 34% Black and 41% White. My intent was to merely show what the area would look like if the 19th didn’t cross the bay into Pinellas County.
South Florida 27-40
27. Lee (part); R+9
28. Collier, Hendry, Lee (part); R+15
29. Palm Beach (part); D+7
30. Broward (part), Palm Beach (part); D+5
31. Palm Beach (part); D+8
32. Broward (part); D+11
33. Broward (part); D+29
34. Broward (part); D+8
35. Broward (part), Miami-Dade (part); D+32
36. Miami-Dade (part); D+1
37. Miami-Dade (part); D+5
38. Miami-Dade (part); D+26
39. Monroe, Miami-Dade (part); D+7
40. Miami-Dade (part); D+2
The districts here are also mostly kept the same. Small changes include the 27th taking in Lehigh Acres in Lee County, which moves the district slightly to the left. The 29th becomes more compact by losing the outlying parts of Palm Beach County to the 25th district. This area has the highest concentration of non-White districts, including four districts with a Hispanic VAP over 60% (36, 37, 39, 40), and three districts with large Black and/or Hispanic voting blocs (32, 33, 38).
The Florida State Senate districts currently in use are an improvement over the originally enacted plan that which was struck down a few years ago. My version makes further changes in some areas to show what else could’ve been done, but this means that my map retains much of the current map. Of course, the differences would be starker if compared to the originally enacted map. What this all shows is the significance of drawing appropriately representative districts.
Thanks for reading.
The maps were created using Dave’s Redistricting App: gardow.com/…
2016 Election Results were acquired via Dave’s Redistricting App 2020 update
The charts and data were assembled using spreadsheets via Stephen Wolf’s guide: www.dailykos.com/…
The Statistical Atlas was used to match the district numbering: statisticalatlas.com/…
Links to the Delaware Maps:
Alternative Districts: Delaware State Senate
Alternative Districts: Delaware State House of Representatives