State: U.S. representatives lobby over districts

TALLAHASSEE -- It was only a coincidence that more members of Congress came to the state Capitol this year than usual, assured U.S. Rep. Clay Shaw, R-Fort Lauderdale.

"You may find some of us walking around with maps under our arms," Shaw added as he opened a summit meeting between members of Congress, the Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush.

Officially, Florida's Congressional delegation was here to talk about welfare, transportation and national security issues. But Congressional members who are unhappy with the way their districts are being redrawn tried some personal lobbying behind the scenes.

"This is an example of politics at its worst," complained U.S. Rep. Corrinne Brown, D-Jacksonville. "It doesn't serve the people of Florida. I haven't talked to a single member of Congress who is pleased with the House plan."

The House has redrawn all 25 congressional districts in Florida, but the Senate has yet to take up its own version. If the House and Senate cannot agree, the task falls to a federal court. Some member of Congress already have filed suit asking the courts to take over now, but lawmakers insist they can agree on a plan.

U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch, D-Pembroke Pines, said the proposed maps will not survive legal scrutiny. The rights of minorities are suffering because lawmakers have carved far too many Republican seats in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans, he said.

Rep. Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, chairman of the House redistricting committee and the next speaker of the House, insists that the House plan is fair and legal but acknowledges it is likely to change during negotiations with the Senate.

Brown is particularly outraged because her district, which runs from Jacksonville to Orlando, would take in Ocala and Gainesville under the House plan. A similar district was declared invalid in 1996.

The House would chop into four pieces the district represented by Rep. Allen Boyd, D-Monticello. Boyd would wind up in the same district as U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Jacksonville. Crenshaw's proposed district includes more than 400,000 voters from Duval County and stretches across the state to the northern end of Tallahassee and Gadsden County.

Boyd said he hopes legislative leaders from North Florida will keep the area from being cut into so many pieces. "To arbitrarily split Leon County in two for partisan reasons cannot be defended," Boyd said.

Some members of Congress are more than ready to leave the issue up to the courts.

U.S. Rep. Karen Thurman, D-Dunnellon, would find herself in the same district as U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Ocala. She hopes the court will solve what she sees as a partisan plan.

"I think it's all orchestrated by the (Republican National Committee)," Thurman added. "We know who is driving this train, and it's driven by one policy: keep the House."

Stearns said he's unhappy at losing his base in Lake County but realizes the maps are a work in progress.

"Any time you do redistricting, there are winners and losers," said Shaw, chairman of the Florida delegation. "But most of the maps I've seen should please most incumbents."

Shaw said U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, R-West Palm Beach, is not happy but would be getting a district that is more Republican than his current district.

Under the House plan Shaw would get about 12 percent of the district Foley now represents and for the first time ever have a district dominated by Republican voters.

U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, said his district would run from Ocala to Arcadia under the House plan and from Disney World to Sun City Center under the Senate plan.

"I don't know if I'm going east-west or north-south," Putnam joked. "But both of them maintain Imperial Polk County as a base, so I'm pretty happy."

And the area shares pretty common interests, mostly agricultural interests, unlike what the plans do to Foley who would get a district including Pahokee and Palm Beach where every vote would make half of the people in the district mad.

U.S. Rep. David Weldon, R-Melbourne, said the plans would make his district "more competitive for Democrats" and "needs tweaking."

U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Pensacola, the newest member of the Florida delegation, said he has some concerns about the way legislators have divided North Florida coastal counties.

"People would rather not see their counties divided," Miller said.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk