JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Representative Angie Nixon and other Democrats protested the new congressional maps on the State House Floor Thursday.
Lawmakers have approved a congressional map pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Nixon says the new proposed districts would mean less Black representation in congress, silencing the Black voice.
Democrats went to the chamber floors chanting, praying, giving speeches on why they felt the vote was not representative of everyone.
Nixon says she felt the vote was unconstitutional.
“We wanted to stop the passage of an unconstitutional map that is a direct attack on democracy," said Nixon. "The goal was also to highlight the extreme bullying from the Republican legislature and Gov. DeSantis in regard to policies that have been devastating to black and brown communities since legislative session began."
The map redraws District 5 and District 10 which includes parts of Duval County, both held by black members of congress.
According to voting records, about 30% of voters are Black in Duval County.
“The redistributing plan that’s passed the legislature and has been sent to the Governor for signature is going to get rid of the historic Black district in Jacksonville, and it’s most recently been represented by Al Lawson stretching from Jacksonville to Tallahassee,” said Andrew Pantazi, Author at The Tributary.
As a writer, Pantazi has followed the redistricting process closely. He says Black voters gained representation in congress in 1992 and now things could change.
“We’re a significant city with a large Black population here that up until 1992 had not been represented in Congress and then in 92 with new districts drawn, they’ve had Black voters,” said Pantazi.
Congressman Al Lawson, who represents District 5, sent a statement to First Coast News saying minority voters deserve congressional representation, and he says the governor is doing this for his own political aspirations.
First Coast News reached out to the GOP and its response was, “with the new maps, Jacksonville will get double the representation in D.C. and won’t have to share with Tallahassee. This can only be a good thing for our city and its citizens.”