Backroom Briefing: Never too early to plan for redistricting

By BRANDON LARRABEE
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, August 11, 2016..........The dust settled only months ago on the once-a-decade project of redrawing Florida's congressional and legislative districts to account for population changes. But because of the lengthy legal battle that followed the Legislature's original efforts at drawing the lines, the beginning of the next redistricting process is less than five years away.

That means the governor elected in 2018 will be in office and able to sign or veto the next collection of congressional lines --- the legislative districts go straight to the Florida Supreme Court. And at least one group is gearing up for the fight. Emily's List, which supports Democratic women candidates who back abortion rights, announced this week that Florida would be one of its "Focus 2020" states.

The group said in announcing the move that part of its efforts will be "to impact redistricting in 2021." And Florida is not alone: Colorado, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin are also part of the drive.

In the Sunshine State, the organization has zeroed in on the governor's race and the state Senate.

"The path to taking back control of the Florida state Senate and governorship runs through EMILY's List women. ... Through electing these women we will ensure that Florida's state legislative districts and governor are truly representative of all Florida families," Lucinda Guinn, vice president for campaigns for Emily's List, said in a statement.

At least one potential candidate is obvious. Democratic Congresswoman Gwen Graham, who is essentially getting squeezed out of her North Florida seat by a court-ordered redistricting plan, has announced she's leaving the U.S. House to consider a run for governor in 2018. Graham, the daughter of former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham, is easily one of the most recognizable options the party has for the governor's mansion.

Ironically, the most-recent round of redistricting is also what puts the Democrats within striking distance of a majority in the state Senate. While the original map drawn by the Legislature was allegedly crafted to favor the Republican Party, the one adopted by the courts makes control of the upper chamber almost a toss-up.

But Republicans have outperformed in the Senate before, holding districts that favored Democrats. Also, the GOP has its own rising star in Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, who is the favorite to become the party's nominee for governor in two years.

What's more, Emily's List is unlikely to be the last group to enter the fray for 2018 with the next map-drawing process in mind.

STRANGER IN A FAMILIAR LAND?

Republicans, who have repeatedly knocked Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy for allegedly exaggerating or being untruthful about his accomplishments, seized Thursday on what they called a new gaffe by the U.S. Senate candidate: Murphy, born in Florida, claimed to be an immigrant.

The line came from an interview with Jorge Ramos on Fusion TV. And the words "I'm an immigrant" did, strictly speaking, come out of Murphy's mouth --- as several news outlets (a couple of which lean to the right) reported.

"Murphy should probably take some time off, figure out what he needs to do to be able to stop lying, and then maybe get back into politics once he learns how to tell the truth," said Ian Prior, a spokesman for the conservative Senate Leadership Fund.

But a quick look at the context of Murphy's comments shows that they might have been more rhetorical flourish than outright whopper. Ramos had asked Murphy, who faces fellow Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson in an Aug. 30 primary for the Senate nomination, whether he was afraid of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump winning the White House.

In the course of his answer (short version: yes), Murphy said: "All of us --- I'm an immigrant; we're all basically immigrants here."

TWEET OF THE WEEK: "My Twitter mentions after doing any Fox appearance are always quite entertaining. Occasionally scary, but always entertaining"---Steve Schale (@steveschale), a Democratic political consultant, after an appearance on Fox Business Network.