At what point do people stop doubting Ron DeSantis? The critics said the Florida governor couldn’t win the battle over Critical Race Theory. They said he couldn’t ban mask mandates in schools. They said the Parental Rights in Education law would be his undoing. And yet, DeSantis just keeps coming out smelling like roses, and the latest example of that may be one of his most important victories yet.
The battle over redistricting has raged in Florida for months now, with even Republicans in the legislature doing their level best to surrender and hand Democrats a nearly status-quo result. DeSantis, on the other hand, stood up and said he wasn’t going to allow the GOP to fold. In the face of immense pressure, he vetoed the legislature’s map, setting up a standoff. Who would blink first?
Well, we have an answer. DeSantis just scored a knockout on the question of redistricting.
BREAKING: Florida Legislature will wait on @GovRonDeSantis to produce a Congressional reapportionment map for them to vote on during next week’s Special Session.
— AG Gancarski (@AGGancarski) April 11, 2022
This will likely mean the end of 5th Congressional District extending from Tallahassee area to Jax, and will likely mean 2 GOP seats in Jax metro area.
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— AG Gancarski (@AGGancarski) April 11, 2022
They said he couldn’t win this fight, but once again, the Florida man has proven his doubters wrong. In practice, that means the GOP will end up with a likely 20-9 or 21-8 advantage now instead of the 17-12 or 18-11 seat advantage the Republican-led Florida Senate originally tried to shove through. Further, it means the ridiculous racial gerrymander in the northern part of the state, which stretched for 200 miles is almost certainly history. After all, it was FL-5 that brought about DeSantis’ veto in the first place.
The governor’s office will now submit a map they feel is legal and fair, and the legislature will have little choice but to pass it. Time is already short, and Republicans looking to run for re-election this November aren’t going to want to be seen as still battling an extremely popular GOP governor on something as fundamental as stopping racial gerrymandering. Those who insisted DeSantis didn’t have the sway to get this done have been proven wrong.
Isn’t it amazing what a Republican can accomplish when they actually choose to fight and see things through? In Maryland, Larry Hogan had a favorable court decision and a chance to end gerrymandering in his state. Instead, he settled with Democrats, accepted a status-quo map, and tried to claim he hit a home run. That’s the cowardice we are used to seeing from the GOP.
DeSantis continues to take the opposite approach, relishing in bringing the fight to his opponents. That ambition and work ethic has paid dividends for his state and Americans more broadly.
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