With his attorneys calling it an “extraordinary case,” U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster on Thursday asked the Florida Supreme Court to allow him to intervene in a legal battle about the shape of the state’s congressional districts.
Attorneys for the Central Florida Republican also acknowledged that a proposed map pending before the Supreme Court likely would prevent Webster from getting re-elected in Congressional District 10.
“The congressional district of a sitting United States congressman is being transmuted into a majority minority district in which he stands no chance of re-election, and he has, to date, not been permitted ‘a seat at the table,’’’ the motion to intervene said.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Nov. 10 about a proposed redistricting plan that stems from three years of legal fights about whether current districts violate the anti-gerrymandering “Fair Districts” standards approved by voters in 2010.
Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis this month recommended the plan, after the Supreme Court in July rejected the current map.
In his motion to intervene, Webster’s attorneys contend that the proposed lines for Congressional District 10 are unconstitutional because they were drawn to “disfavor a political party or incumbent” and because they do not comply with requirements for compactness and the use of political and geographic boundaries.