New congressional districts will reshape South Florida politics — for voters and candidates
Politicians are polling, strategizing — and agonizing. But the impact of Florida’s new congressional districts extends well beyond the political class. Every voter in the state will be affected, even if they don’t yet know it.
In Delray Beach, many people will find their next member of Congress is someone whose district stretches south along the coast to Miami Beach, and who consequently might not be completely attuned to what’s going on in Palm Beach County.
The district for residents of Parkland, Weston and Wellington will stretch across vast swaths of the Everglades, extending to Marco Island and the Gulf of Mexico.
Those are some of the major changes in South Florida Congressional districts under a just-enacted redistricting plan, approved by Republicans in the Florida Legislature over the vociferous objections of Democrats who said it was unfair and unconstitutional. One indication about the expected results: At the conclusion of the vote in the state House of Representatives, law…