The Jacksonville City Council voted on Tuesday to institute a new district map for Duval County. With its 17-1 vote, the stage is now set for Republican and Democratic candidates in next year’s election with no upset to the present balance of power.
This comes with opposition from community organizers who say the new maps will dilute the power of the Black vote by cornering them into four Northwest Jacksonville districts, affording them less influence in the remaining districts. Community activists describe the redistricting plans as racial gerrymandering and the splintering of neighborhoods based on an inaccurate use of census data.
The redistricting was required to balance the population of 14 City Council districts based on changes that occurred between the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census.
The new map will also affect the seven School Board districts.
Despite Duval County’s Democratic Party Executive Committee urging City Council Members to reject the new map, City Council President Sam Newby describes the vote as a great product to move Jacksonville forward.
“I want to reiterate the importance of the committee moving Jacksonville forward,” he said. “It was a great process. It was transparent. The Rules Committee as well as the Rendition Committee did a great job. You can tell by the vote - 17 to one.”
City Council member Rory Diamond was the only no vote.
“I simply felt that the maps that were passed were really designed to protect incumbents and keep the status quo,” he said. “I think in order to move Jacksonville forward, we need to have new people and new ideas in office.”
Diamond described that new maps - that will be used for the next 10 years - as almost identical to those of the past 10 years.
“We heard from literally dozens and dozens of constituents who didn’t like the maps and we only made one tiny little change that only affected a few dozen homes,” he continued.
With threats of a law suit coming from the NAACP and the North Coalition of Jacksonville, Diamond says that although he expects the council to get sued, he will not support the lawsuit.
Isaiah Rumlin, the President of the Jacksonville NAACP, released the following statement.
“These maps fail to reflect the full richness of our city. Anti-voter politicians on the Council have unnecessarily “packed” four districts with Black residents, diminishing Black voters’ influence in other districts. This tactic minimizes the voices of voters of color in our elections and denies us equal representation to advocate for how city services are allocated, and communities are governed.”
Ben Frazier, President of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville followed suit.
“Throughout the redistricting process, the Council failed to listen to the concerns of the people. The gerrymandered end product is emblematic of the unresponsiveness we see all too often from our politicians here in Duval County. We deserve a plan that adequately represents the power of the people.”
Diamond concluded by stating that because courts expedite litigations as such quickly, he didn’t expect a lawsuit to have any effect on the 2023 elections.
Democrats hold five of the 14 district seats on the City Council while the Republicans represent nine districts plus five at-large seats.