Florida's Fair Districts Amendment legal battle goes to court

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Well, right now it's unclear when we'll get a ruling from a judge in Tallahassee. A high-stakes hearing was held today over the state's new congressional map with plaintiffs asking the court to block it before the November election. News Channel 8's McKenzie Laporte has the latest from Tallahassee.

[00:00:15]At the center of today's arguments, Florida's Fair Districts Amendment, which bans partisan gerrymandering here in the state. With one side saying the new map does exactly that, while the other argues the law itself is unconstitutional. It's been a fight from the very start of the redistricting process.

[00:00:35]Advocacy groups and voters showed up at the capital time and time again demanding to be heard.

[00:00:41]>> Rigging maps have no place in a free and fair democratic society.

[00:00:47]>> And today, groups like Common Cause and Equal Ground took their fight to court arguing that the new 2026 map violates the state constitution.

[00:00:58]>> we're not unsuspecting dupes to this whole process. They are adults with eyes and ears who watched this whole thing play out, and they still signed on to it.

[00:01:07]>> They point to what's known as packing and cracking districts, the use of partisan data, a closed-door process, and what they call a national redistricting arms race as reasons why Judge Joshua Hawks should block the governor's new map.

[00:01:21]>> After all, here disclaimed any need to comply with the Fair Districts Amendment, and then openly admitted to using partisan data in the creation of each and every district in the plan.

[00:01:35]>> But the state pushed back arguing the problem here isn't the new map, but the Fair Districts Amendment itself.

[00:01:42]>> Text shows an interlocking framework.

[00:01:44]Everything is a package deal.

[00:01:45]>> Counsel for the governor and legislature says if one part of the FDA conflicts with federal law, the entire thing has to fall.

[00:01:54]>> They all work together. They produce a single product. So, there's no way to separate them from each other.

[00:02:00]>> And with election deadlines quickly approaching, the defense argues it may be too late to block the new map now, potentially pushing any major decision until after November.

[00:02:10]>> Judge Joshua Hawks ended the hearing Friday saying he'll issue a written order.

[00:02:15]>> Today's hearing had eyes on it all across the state and nation because this decision could reshape the future of the Florida delegation, which could decide who takes control of Congress in the midterm election. Reporting here in Tallahassee, McKenzie Laporte, 8 On Your Side.