Terri Susan Fine, Ph.D. Content Specialist Florida Joint Center for Citizenship

Why Does Florida Matter in 2012? Three factors garner attention in any presidential election Primary Calendar Redistricting Electoral College Campaign Finance

The Primary Calendar Why so many primaries? Candidate selection must be fair and open Why does the primary calendar matter? “The Big Mo” What happened to Florida in 2008?

Redistricting The U.S. Constitution requires that a census be conducted every 10 years Baker v. Carr (1962) requires that legislative districts be reasonably equal in size “One person, one vote” The number of districts has not changed since 1911 Each state is guaranteed at least one district and two Senators

Redistricting in Florida Major population changes since 2000 Florida’s population increased by 17.6% (to 18.8 million) Hispanics are now 22.5% of the population Hispanics are now the state’s largest minority group Districts previously engineered to elect minorities have become too small

Redistricting in Florida (continued) Of the five congressional districts that have grown the least since 2000, three elect the state's only African- American members of Congress. Two of the five slowest-growing state Senate districts are majority African-American. Out of the 30 slowest-growing House districts, one- third "minority-majority" seats.

The Politics of Redistricting What is “racial gerrymandering”? The original “gerrymander” Voting Rights Act (1965) Preclearance provision (Section 5) Voting Rights Act Amendments (1982) “Vote dilution” Thornburgh v. Gingles (1986)

Fair Districts in Florida Voters have mandated that lawmakers take politics and self-interest out of the equation. In 2010, Florida voters adopted the "Fair Districts" constitutional amendments requiring that congressional and legislative districts be drawn more compactly, following existing city and county boundaries where feasible — and without the intent to help incumbents or political parties. Supporters said the aim was to stop the decades-old practice of gerrymandering political boundaries to prop up the party in power.

Who is Drawing the District Lines? State legislatures draw both state and federal districts Republicans outnumber Democrats 81 to 39 in the Florida House Republicans outnumber Democrats 28 to 12 in the Senate Registered Democrats outnumber GOP voters.

Electoral College—Florida’s role will be enhanced in 2012 Florida is a winner-take-all state Electoral College will likely remain the same size Florida has more than 10% of the Electoral Votes needed to win the presidency This will impact campaign strategy and the attention that Florida receives

Campaign Finance The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act was enacted in 2002 Eliminated “soft money”—unregulated monies between the state and national political parties

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