Reporter busts myths about Brown’s fight against redrawn Congressional district

Earlier this month, FAMU alumna and Florida Times-Union reporter Tia Mitchell wrote a column about the myths that have been spread about U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown’s fight against the redrawn Fifth Congressional District of Florida (CD5).

CD5, which Brown has represented since 1992, ran north-south from Duval County to Orange County until the Florida Supreme Court voted 5-2 on December 2 to approve a new set of Congressional district maps in compliance with the Fair Districts Amendment. The new maps included a redrawn District 5 that runs from Duval to Gadsden Counties. The new CD5 remains a minority-access seat with about 45 percent black voters. 

From Mitchell’s column: “Busting myths about Corrine Brown’s redistricting battle”:

There are some untruths being circulated about Brown’s redistricting battle and what it means for her career in politics. Those untruths are being perpetuated by the congresswoman herself.

I think I owe it to you, especially those of you living within the new or old boundaries of Brown’s District 5, to help separate fact from fiction. So let’s get to it.

MYTH 1

Under a new District 5, an African-American cannot win.

Let me start by saying that no one has a crystal ball, and in Florida politics anything can happen. So no one can guarantee an African-American will be elected in a new District 5. But that is different than saying one cannot win.

The standard the Florida Supreme Court considered when approving the new east-west district lines was whether there were enough black voters that, if they generally vote in a bloc, then can elect a candidate of their choice to Congress. And generally speaking, black voters will elect an African-American Democrat when given the choice.

Analysts referred to voter turnout data from previous elections, mainly the 2010 U.S. Senate race and 2012 presidential election. And they have determined that the seat will be won in the Democratic primary, and in the primary the majority of voters are black…

MYTH 2

The counting of prison inmates when drawing the boundary lines improperly skews election predictions.

Yes, the inmates in prisons were counted in population estimates that help divide the state into 27 congressional districts. That is a long-standing, yet controversial part of the redistricting process. There are arguments for and against counting prisoners when drawing boundary lines.

But that has nothing to do with the voter turnout data used to determine whether a seat is truly one that will give minorities a chance to elect someone who looks like them to Congress…

Read the full column here.