Florida’s new gerrymandered congressional map, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced to the state and world via Fox News with a drawing showing a sea of red with just four blue dots, drew a lawsuit just over an hour after he signed it into law on Monday that cites the state’s constitutional provision banning gerrymandered maps.
“The plan can only be explained by the same purpose that has been openly stated for months: to maximize Republican congressional representation,” Democratic lawyer Marc Elias’ firm wrote in its complaint asking the Leon County Circuit Court, home to Florida’s capital Tallahassee, to strike down the map as unconstitutional and prevent its use in the coming midterm elections.
DeSantis’ office did not respond to a HuffPost query, but at 12:06 p.m. Eastern, the governor posted the statement “Signed, sealed and delivered” on social media along with an image of the new map. Not long after, he added from his personal account: “Promise made, promise kept.”
However, the map DeSantis showed off Monday uses the standard color scheme for Florida’s district maps: muted shades to differentiate each district from its neighbors. The fact that DeSantis unveiled his map a week ago — with zero input from lawmakers or the public — in openly partisan red-and-blue colors was cited in the lawsuit.
