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April 22, 2022policy changeredistrictingvoting rightsracial equityexecutive powervoting rightsredistrictingracial gerrymandering

DeSantis signs a congressional map eliminating Florida's only majority-Black district

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a congressional redistricting map on April 22, 2022, that split Black voters in Jacksonville across three separate districts, reducing Black voting-age population in each from over 45 percent to below 35 percent and eliminating the only majority-Black congressional district in northern Florida. DeSantis had vetoed the Florida Legislature's own map — drawn to comply with the voter-approved Fair Districts Amendment — and submitted a replacement drawn by his own staff with assistance from national Republican redistricting operatives. The move eliminated US Representative Al Lawson's seat, ending three decades of Black congressional representation in northeast Florida that began with Corrine Brown's 1992 election.