Appeals court takes DeSantis’ side in challenge to a map that helped unseat a Black congressman

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — An appeals court has ruled that the Florida Legislature didn’t violate the state constitution when it approved congressional maps pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last year. Friday’s decision reverses a lower court ruling that the map that helped the GOP replace a Black Democratic representative with a white conservative was unconstitutional. Voting rights groups argued that map dismantled a district where Black citizens made up nearly half the registered voters. The district stretched from Jacksonville about 200 miles west to rural Gadsden County. The appeals court agreed with DeSantis that a district can’t be drawn to connect two Black communities that otherwise have no connection.