New Miami district map already faces challenges

Miami officials redrew what they say they believe to be a constitutionally compliant district map and sent it for a federal court judge’s approval, but some residents are already filing appeals.

Last week, the Miami City Commission convened a special session to draft a new district map after Southern District Court Judge Michael K. Moore ordered the existing map thrown out over accusations of gerrymandering. But the new map is drawing more controversy, as plaintiffs in the federal case say it still divides the city along racial lines and the home of one commissioner’s political opponent was drawn out of his district.

In December 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and other local activists sued the city claiming its commission district map violated the US Constitution as it sought to maintain one Black district, one white and three Hispanic districts.

At the end of May, Judge Moore granted an injunction and directed the city to create a constitutionally compliant map. Commissioners went back to the drawing board and came up with a new map that purportedly balances the population among the districts without considering race as a factor.

Miguel De Grandy, an attorney at Holland & Knight, presented the city’s alternate district map. In 2021, the city hired him as a redistricting consultant to study 2020 Census data and determine if boundaries for Miami’s voting districts should shift.

The map produced at that time is at the crux of the ongoing lawsuit. Plaintiffs allege the city’s Cuban-American commissioners carved out areas that had the greatest percentages of Hispanic voters to further pack their Hispanic-majority districts.

In doing so, they also corralled Black Miami voters into District 5, the suit contends. The judge in the case found the map was an unconstitutional product of racial gerrymandering, packing ethnic groups into specific districts and thus diluting those groups’ voting power in other areas of the city.

The new map crafted by Mr. De Grandy with commissioners’ input seemingly rectifies the previous version’s violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees voting protection for minorities. However, critics say the map is still problematic.

“The map the commission passed is essentially the same one that the court struck down last month, and the plaintiffs plan to oppose it and request that the court not approve it as the interim remedy in the case,” said ACLU of Florida attorney Nick Warren.

The new map keeps the entirety of the Overtown neighborhood and certain economic drivers in the Wharf area along the Miami River in District 5, as requested by Chairwoman Christine King, who represents that district.

District 2 was most radically changed by the new map, which splits portions of the heavily populated coastal area into District 3. Commissioner Sabina Covo from District 2 argued on behalf of her constituents to keep Coconut Grove united, but she ultimately lost ground as her colleagues said it was necessary due to population growth.

The oddly shaped carveout maintains Commissioner Joe Carollo’s Coconut Grove house in District 3, a point noted by the plaintiffs whose alternate map would have forced him to move to keep his seat.

The new map saw that one other home conveniently shifted districts. Miguel Gabela, a District 1 commission candidate, came to the meeting to find his house had been moved into District 3. Mr. Gabela alleged his opponent, incumbent District 1 Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, had strategically used the process to remove his home of over 20 years from the district, essentially ending his campaign.

“I’ve been running since February… quite obvious this is a political move on somebody’s behalf,” Mr. Gabela said.

David Winker, attorney for Mr. Gabela, told Miami Today that “we are going to try to get this in under the current lawsuit and have the same federal judge review it, because he ordered this and now, they’re doing these shenanigans.”

The southern district court is to assess the new map’s constitutionality and either approve it or appoint a special master to draw yet another map, just four months shy of this November’s elections.