U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat who opposes a congressional redistricting plan approved by the Florida Supreme Court, intends to “reactivate” a federal lawsuit that seeks to block the redrawing of her district.
Brown released a statement Tuesday night that said she was still reviewing the Supreme Court ruling and would meet with her legal counsel this weekend to determine how to move forward.
The Florida Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision Dec. 2, approved a congressional-redistricting plan backed by voting-rights groups, which alleged that the state’s existing congressional map violated the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” standards approved by voters in 2010.
The new plan, in part, shifts Brown’s district from its Jacksonville to Orlando configuration to one that remains Democratic-leaning as it runs along the top of the state from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee. In July, the Supreme Court found the Orlando to Jacksonville configuration of the district unconstitutional.
The next month, Brown went to federal court, arguing that reconfiguring the district will reduce African-Americans’ chance to elect a candidate of their choice, violating the Voting Rights Act. The lawsuit was later placed on hold.
Brown has also reportedly been looking at running in an Orlando district in 2016, which could set off a scramble among politicians from Jacksonville to Tallahassee for her current Congressional District 5 seat.