Miami Herald: “The Republican-controlled Florida House on Monday released its first set of redistricting maps, and they were immediately criticized by elections experts for violating state redistricting rules and derided by Democrats as ‘a fully-baked cake’ that lacked transparency. The maps, which will be discussed in workshops Thursday of the House legislative and congressional redistricting subcommittees, were drawn by staff based on the Fair District standards of the Florida Constitution and court precedent, said House Redistricting Chair Tom Leek, R-Ormond Beach, in a memo to House members.

“But House Democrats criticized the process, saying that there has been little public input with no public hearings as the maps were developed by staff behind closed doors. ‘What we’re seeing is basically a product that is virtually done,’ said Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Hollywood. ‘It does show you how much the lack of transparency in this process, when basically a fully-baked cake comes out of the oven and no one has any idea how we got there — and certainly the public has no idea. A lot of this work is going to be done behind closed doors.’

“Fearful of a lawsuit that could lead to a court ruling that invalidates their maps, the GOP leaders in the House and Senate have been unwilling to comment on any criticism of their maps, preferring to adhere to pre-written statements before and after each public meeting. The stakes are high. Because of its population growth, Florida gains a 28th congressional district and national Republicans see Florida, with its GOP-controlled Legislature and Republican governor, as one of the best opportunities to gain seats in Congress in the 2022 mid-term elections.

“In 2015, after three years of lawsuits, the court ordered legislators to adopt new maps for the state Senate and congressional districts. Unlike the proposed Senate maps, which were widely viewed by redistricting analysts as a fair attempt to redistrict the state and not an aggressive attempt at preserving partisan advantage, the House maps released Monday would disadvantage more Democrats and advantage more Republicans.

“Under the Fair Districts provisions of the Florida Constitution, legislators are barred from reapportioning legislative and congressional districts to advantage any incumbent or political party or to diminish minority voting access. Under the House’s two proposed congressional maps, Republicans would have a 17-11 advantage, a one-seat gain over the current 16-11 split.”