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FLORIDA POLITICS
Since 2002, daily Florida political news and commentary

 

UPDATE: Every morning we review and individually digest Florida political news articles, editorials and punditry. Our sister site, FLA Politics was selected by Campaigns & Elections as one of only ten state blogs in the nation
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Welcome To Florida Politics

Thanks for visiting. On a semi-daily basis we scan Florida's major daily newspapers for significant Florida political news and punditry. We also review the editorial pages and political columnists/pundits for Florida political commentary. The papers we review include: the Miami Herald, Sun-Sentinel, Palm Beach Post, Naples News, Sarasota Herald Tribune, St Pete Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Tallahassee Democrat, and, occasionally, the Florida Times Union; we also review the political news blogs associated with these newspapers.

For each story, column, article or editorial we deem significant, we post at least the headline and link to the piece; the linked headline always appears in quotes. We quote the headline for two reasons: first, to allow researchers looking for the cited piece to find it (if the link has expired) by searching for the original title/headline via a commercial research service. Second, quotation of the original headline permits readers to appreciate the spin from the original piece, as opposed to our spin.

Not that we don't provide spin; we do, and plenty of it. Our perspective appears in post headlines, the subtitles within the post (in bold), and the excerpts from the linked stories we select to quote; we also occasionally provide other links and commentary about certain stories. While our bias should be immediately apparent to any reader, we nevertheless attempt to link to every article, column or editorial about Florida politics in every major online Florida newspaper.

 

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The Blog for Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Osceola Lawsuit

    "U.S. suit says Osceola voting unfair to Hispanics". See also, yesterday's "Feds take Osceola to court over elections".

    The Orlando Sentinel editiorial board observes:
    It was a matter of time before the Justice Department connected the dots between a lack of Hispanic voting power and Osceola's discriminatory at-large system, in which candidates run for elections countywide. On Monday, the Justice Department filed a much-anticipated lawsuit seeking a change to single-member districts. Under a district scenario, Osceola would be carved into geographic regions; candidates would run only in one area, making it easier and less expensive for minorities to run for elective office.

    This is long overdue in Osceola, which is 35 percent Hispanic, and where not one Hispanic holds an elected position, although many unsuccessfully have run for office. The same holds true for Kissimmee, which is 50 percent Hispanic, and where the City Commission recently passed over six Hispanic mayoral candidates to appoint a former city commissioner who was term limited.

    The federal suit plausibly alleges that: At-large districts dilute Hispanic voting strength; commissioners split the Hispanic vote in the 2001 redistricting to avoid creating a majority-Hispanic district; and campaigns for county commissioners have been characterized by racial appeals. The suit states commissioners created a charter-review commission in 1995 to push for a return to at-large districts.

    Osceola boasted single-member districts between 1992 and 1996. The county reverted to at-large voting in 1996 -- not coincidentally in the same election that thrust the first, and only, Hispanic onto the County Commission. Other charter-review commissions have recommended against a referendum on single-member districts. The suit implies this is no accident.
    "Don't fight lawsuit".

6:47 AM

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