Hey Matthew, love the write up. But I do have one question. Would the “Jimmymander” protect COI’s by having almost all of the military instillations (eyeballing here) and the beach communities together while having the inland communities be in another district? Or is there no fundamental difference between the coast and inland in northern Florida?
Valid question! So the Jimmymander mimics how the State Senate districts of Florida were before 2012, which saw a coastal seat and then an upper-counties seat. These are two fairly different types of communities, so there is an argument from a COI perspective
However, when Fair Districts passed in 2012, which prioritizes keeping counties whole and such, the FL Supreme Court rejected the top-down plan for state senate in that area. That principle would also apply with congress, and cases similar for congressional plans in palm/broward ruled that the coastal communities are not a COI that should be prioritized over compactness. One other factor from the court was that the push for it was not unanimous. There was not a situation, as best anyone could tell, where coastal towns were demanding a coastal seat, while inlands wanted their own.
The court argued, and I see their point, that COI is important but should only take precedent over keeping cities/counties whole if there is a compelling reason. For example, the argument to split counties for Black voters is based off history of discrimination and continued issues with racially-polarized voting.
COI when it comes to "coastal" vs "inland" are less fraught. There is no strong history of "the coastal folks ignore inland concerns" or whatnot - at least in the modern era. If you had a compelling reason, like if the regions were in conflict, then it would likely get a stronger consideration. How far we expand COI for line-drawing is tricky, because it can be easily abused for partisan or personal reasons. So the standards right now are much more "keep things compact and keep county splits minimal, except for the longstanding considerations of language/racial minorities"
I've known Jimmy my entire life as I too was born in Bay County, less than a mile from his restaurant. I can tell you that the residents of Bay County fully support Jimmy for Congress, and we could not be happier that the only vote that matters in America these days, Donald Trump's, has made Jimmy a US congressman. We also all had a big sigh of relief that Jimmy will be the congressman for the 1st District and not the 2nd District. Jimmy for Congress!! Did I mention that we could not be happier?
Hey Matthew, love the write up. But I do have one question. Would the “Jimmymander” protect COI’s by having almost all of the military instillations (eyeballing here) and the beach communities together while having the inland communities be in another district? Or is there no fundamental difference between the coast and inland in northern Florida?
Valid question! So the Jimmymander mimics how the State Senate districts of Florida were before 2012, which saw a coastal seat and then an upper-counties seat. These are two fairly different types of communities, so there is an argument from a COI perspective
However, when Fair Districts passed in 2012, which prioritizes keeping counties whole and such, the FL Supreme Court rejected the top-down plan for state senate in that area. That principle would also apply with congress, and cases similar for congressional plans in palm/broward ruled that the coastal communities are not a COI that should be prioritized over compactness. One other factor from the court was that the push for it was not unanimous. There was not a situation, as best anyone could tell, where coastal towns were demanding a coastal seat, while inlands wanted their own.
The court argued, and I see their point, that COI is important but should only take precedent over keeping cities/counties whole if there is a compelling reason. For example, the argument to split counties for Black voters is based off history of discrimination and continued issues with racially-polarized voting.
COI when it comes to "coastal" vs "inland" are less fraught. There is no strong history of "the coastal folks ignore inland concerns" or whatnot - at least in the modern era. If you had a compelling reason, like if the regions were in conflict, then it would likely get a stronger consideration. How far we expand COI for line-drawing is tricky, because it can be easily abused for partisan or personal reasons. So the standards right now are much more "keep things compact and keep county splits minimal, except for the longstanding considerations of language/racial minorities"
I've known Jimmy my entire life as I too was born in Bay County, less than a mile from his restaurant. I can tell you that the residents of Bay County fully support Jimmy for Congress, and we could not be happier that the only vote that matters in America these days, Donald Trump's, has made Jimmy a US congressman. We also all had a big sigh of relief that Jimmy will be the congressman for the 1st District and not the 2nd District. Jimmy for Congress!! Did I mention that we could not be happier?