It’s no secret that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has a contentious relationship with Black Americans. And the Republican Governor certainly didn’t help his case when he went on a tirade against African American studies. But some of his more public moves aside, it’s what he’s done to voting rights in the state that has got Black Floridians on edge.
Since entering office, DeSantis has waged an unprecedented attack on Black voters and Black political power in Florida.The accusations against DeSantis include allegations that he gerrymandered Black voting power into oblivion and pushed through voting restrictions in an attempt to scare and confuse Black voters into staying home.
Let’s start with his gerrymandering strategy. We now have ample reporting from ProPublica and The Guardian that DeSantis was deeply involved in redrawing the new congressional district maps last year. According to reporting from The Guardian, DeSantis’s new map not only heavily favored Republicans, but it also cut the number of districts where Black voters had a chance to elect a candidate in half.
In a lawsuit, the Florida GOP was accused of using a two-pronged disenfranchisement strategy known as “cracking” and “packing” in predominantly Black districts. To simplify it a little, “cracking” refers to splitting a minority group amongst new districts to dilute their political power. So, for example, the new map split Black voters in Jacksonville into two different maps, diminishing their ability to pick a candidate. “Packing” is the opposite strategy. Essentially, you “pack” as many minority voters into one or two districts so you can limit the number of seats the group can get in Congress. The litigation is still ongoing, so we’ll see how that shakes out.
Gerrymandering isn’t the only attack on Black political power. Last year, the Justice Department sued the Florida GOP over new voting restrictions, which they said intentionally targeted Black voters. The restrictions caused chaos in November for Black Floridians who worried about running afoul of the law.
Although he hasn’t announced, DeSantis is still considered a contender for the Republican Presidential primary. The war he’s waged against Black political power in Florida could be a troubling window into a DeSantis presidency.