A panel of federal judges has ruled that a lawsuit alleging racial gerrymandering in a key Tampa Bay-area Florida Senate district may proceed, setting the stage for a high-profile trial over the constitutionality of part of the state’s 2022 redistricting plan.
The three-judge panel, which includes 11th Circuit Judge Andrew Brasher and U.S. District Judges Thomas Barber and Charlene Edwards Honeywell, denied the state’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit’s claim regarding Senate District 16. That district, represented by Democratic Sen. Darryl Rouson, spans Tampa Bay and includes portions of both Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.
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The lawsuit, brought by five residents of Tampa and St. Petersburg, alleges that the Florida Legislature improperly prioritized race in drawing the district lines, unconstitutionally “packing” Black voters into District 16 at the expense of neighboring District 18 — thereby diluting their influence.
“The Legislature sacrificed genuine communities of interest and unjustifiably packed Black voters into District 16,” the complaint argues, citing a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
In their ruling, the judges cited both direct and circumstantial evidence — including lawmakers’ own statements — suggesting that race “predominated” in the creation of the district. They also pointed to the district’s geographical layout, noting that there is no bridge connecting the areas on either side of Tampa Bay.
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“Together, the direct and circumstantial evidence that race predominated in drawing District 16 requires this court to weigh evidence and make credibility determinations: a task properly left for trial,” the panel concluded.
However, the judges dismissed a related claim regarding Senate District 18, represented by Republican Sen. Nick DiCeglie. The plaintiffs had argued that by concentrating Black voters in District 16, the Legislature diminished minority influence in District 18. The court found that while race may have influenced District 16’s boundaries, the evidence did not support a standalone racial gerrymandering claim for District 18.
“The Supreme Court has rejected claims based on the idea that a racial gerrymander of one district affected the lines of a neighboring district,” the judges wrote.
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The Senate map was approved by state lawmakers in February 2022 and used in that year’s elections. The legal challenge draws on the 2010 “Fair Districts” amendment to Florida’s Constitution, which prohibits redistricting plans from diminishing minority voting power. The plaintiffs argue the Legislature failed to “narrowly tailor” its use of race in accordance with that amendment and federal equal-protection standards.
The case adds to a growing number of legal battles over Florida’s post-2020 redistricting process. Other lawsuits are active in federal and state courts, including a Miami-based challenge to state House and congressional lines, and a high-profile Florida Supreme Court case over a North Florida congressional district that was redrawn under Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration.
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