Latest news with #BlackVoters
The Guardian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Florida supreme court upholds congressional map that weakens Black voters' influence
The Florida supreme court rejected a challenge to the state's congressional map on Thursday, a decision that weakens the influence of Black voters in the state and could make it easier to draw gerrymandered maps in the future. The years-long legal dispute centered on Florida governor Ron DeSantis's decision to get rid of a winding district in northern Florida where Black voters made up nearly half of the eligible voter population and had repeatedly elected Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, to Congress. When the Florida legislature redrew the map in 2021, DeSantis went out of his way to chop up the district into four different ones in which white people comprised a majority. DeSantis said at the time that the district, which stretched more than 200 miles from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, had impermissibly sorted voters based on their race. The decision helped Republicans pick up additional seats in Florida. Thursday's ruling is a win for Republicans, who anticipate losing seats in the US House in next year's midterm elections. Black voters and advocacy groups challenged the map, saying getting rid of the district violated one of several anti-gerrymandering provisions, known as the Fair Districts Amendment (FDA), approved by voters in 2010. One of those protections prohibits lawmakers from drawing districts that 'diminish [racial and language minorities'] ability to elect representatives of their choice'. Eliminating a district in which Black voters were electing their preferred candidate, the plaintiffs argued, violated that provision. A circuit court judge sided with the plaintiffs and struck down the map in May 2022. An appellate court reversed that decision. Chief justice Carlos Muñiz, a DeSantis appointee, wrote the majority opinion and agreed that the old district was one in which Black voters could elect their preferred candidate and that the new map diminished their ability to do so. But, he added, the relevant question was whether it was possible to draw districts that complied with the non-diminishment requirement without allowing race to predominate. The plaintiffs, he said, had not proven that was possible. 'The record leaves no doubt that such a district would be race-predominant. The record also gives us no reasonable basis to think that further litigation would uncover a potentially viable remedy,' he wrote. 'It is likely impossible to draw a non-diminishing district … in North Florida without subordinating the FDA's mandatory race-neutral districting standards.' 'There's no doubt that this opinion dramatically limits the reach of the FDA,' said Chris Shenton, a lawyer with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which represented plaintiffs challenging the maps in a separate case. Justice Jorge Labarga wrote in a dissenting opinion that the case should have been sent back down to a lower court where the plaintiffs should have been given the chance to prove such a map was possible. The supreme court's Thursday decision, he wrote, 'lays the groundwork for future decisions that may render the Non-Diminishment Clause practically ineffective or, worse, unenforceable as a matter of law'.
The Guardian
17-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Florida supreme court upholds congressional map that weakens Black voters' influence
The Florida supreme court rejected a challenge to the state's congressional map on Thursday, a decision that weakens the influence of Black voters in the state and could make it easier to draw gerrymandered maps in the future. The years-long legal dispute centered on Florida governor Ron DeSantis's decision to get rid of a winding district in northern Florida where Black voters made up nearly half of the eligible voter population and had repeatedly elected Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, to Congress. When the Florida legislature redrew the map in 2021, DeSantis went out of his way to chop up the district into four different ones in which white people comprised a majority. DeSantis said at the time that the district, which stretched more than 200 miles from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, had impermissibly sorted voters based on their race. The decision helped Republicans pick up additional seats in Florida. Thursday's ruling is a win for Republicans, who anticipate losing seats in the US House in next year's midterm elections. Black voters and advocacy groups challenged the map, saying getting rid of the district violated one of several anti-gerrymandering provisions, known as the Fair Districts Amendment (FDA), approved by voters in 2010. One of those protections prohibits lawmakers from drawing districts that 'diminish [racial and language minorities'] ability to elect representatives of their choice'. Eliminating a district in which Black voters were electing their preferred candidate, the plaintiffs argued, violated that provision. A circuit court judge sided with the plaintiffs and struck down the map in May 2022. An appellate court reversed that decision. Chief justice Carlos Muñiz, a DeSantis appointee, wrote the majority opinion and agreed that the old district was one in which Black voters could elect their preferred candidate and that the new map diminished their ability to do so. But, he added, the relevant question was whether it was possible to draw districts that complied with the non-diminishment requirement without allowing race to predominate. The plaintiffs, he said, had not proven that was possible. 'The record leaves no doubt that such a district would be race-predominant. The record also gives us no reasonable basis to think that further litigation would uncover a potentially viable remedy,' he wrote. 'It is likely impossible to draw a non-diminishing district … in North Florida without subordinating the FDA's mandatory race-neutral districting standards.' 'There's no doubt that this opinion dramatically limits the reach of the FDA,' said Chris Shenton, a lawyer with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which represented plaintiffs challenging the maps in a separate case. Justice Jorge Labarga wrote in a dissenting opinion that the case should have been sent back down to a lower court where the plaintiffs should have been given the chance to prove such a map was possible. The supreme court's Thursday decision, he wrote, 'lays the groundwork for future decisions that may render the Non-Diminishment Clause practically ineffective or, worse, unenforceable as a matter of law'.
Washington Post
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Young Black voters are trying out Republicans — and progressives
A long list of New York's Black pastors and politicians endorsed former governor Andrew M. Cuomo in the run-up to the city's Democratic primary for mayor last month. But it wasn't surprising that freelance journalist Anthony Conwright and many other younger Black New Yorkers ignored those endorsements and chose state Assembly member Zohran Mamdani instead. Conwright backed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) during the 2016 and 2020 Democratic primaries and voted for Kamala Harris in last year's general election but found her campaign wanting.
Associated Press
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Judges to weigh request to put Alabama under preclearance for a future congressional map
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Federal judges will weigh a request to bring Alabama back under the preclearance requirement of the Voting Rights Act after ruling the state intentionally diluted the voting strength of Black residents when drawing congressional lines. Black voters and civil rights organizations, who successfully challenged Alabama's congressional map, are asking a three-judge panel to require any new congressional maps drawn by state lawmakers to go through federal review before being implemented. The Alabama attorney general and the U.S. Department of Justice oppose the request. Judges on Thursday set a July 29 hearing on the request. The three-judge panel in 2023 ordered the use of a new congressional map in Alabama. The judges selected the new map after saying they were 'deeply troubled' that state lawmakers had ignored their directive to draw a second majority-Black district or something close to it. Plaintiffs said Alabama's actions and the defiance of the court order mirror the state's actions in the 1960s. 'Alabama sought to ignore, evade, and strategically frustrate attempts to remedy racial discrimination,' lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in a court filing. The request would require new congressional maps drawn through the 2030 Census cycle to undergo federal review by the court before being used. The Voting Rights Act for decades required that states with a history of discrimination — including many in the South — get federal approval before changing the way they hold elections. The requirement of preclearance effectively went away in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a case arising from Alabama, that the provision determining which states are covered was outdated and unconstitutional. Plaintiffs argue that Alabama's actions should trigger the so-called 'bail-in' section of the Voting Rights Act that enables courts to retain jurisdiction and exercise preclearance power. 'Preclearance flips the burden on the State to prove its innocence. That power is extraordinary,' Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall's office wrote in a court filing opposing the request. The Justice Department is backing Alabama in asking the judges to reject the request. 'Preclearance is permissible only when jurisdictions have engaged in pervasive, flagrant, widespread, and rampant discrimination,' Justice Department lawyers wrote in the filing signed by the acting chief of the voting section. Alabama's actions did not rise to that level, they argued. The same three-judge panel in May permanently blocked Alabama from using the state-drawn map that they said flouted their directive to draw a plan that was fair to Black voters. The state is appealing that decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump slipping with Black voters after 2024 gains
President Trump is seeing signs that his approval is slipping with Black voters after notable gains with the demographic in last year's election. Recent polling suggests African American voters, already more disapproving of Trump than other demographic groups, have been souring on the president. Decision Desk HQ aggregates find more than70 percent disapprove of his job performance, while around a quarter approve, putting him in one of the weakest positions with the group since returning to the White House. Although Black voters overwhelmingly backed former Vice President Kamala Harris in November, Trump made significant inroads for a Republican, winning about 15 percent, according to a Pew Research Center study released last month — double the percentage he took in 2020. Republicans touted the development as a sign of their expanding coalition, but the latest numbers could signal risks for Trump and the GOP heading into the midterms and beyond. 'We've seen his overall approval rating go down. And that's got to come from somewhere. The African American vote is his newest vote, and that's probably going to be the first to go,' said Scott Tranter, the director of data science for DDHQ. Trump's overall approval rating sits underwater at a net score of negative 7 points, according to the latest averages, after enjoying above-water scores in the weeks after taking office. He hit a disapproval high in April, recovered slightly in May and early June, then dipped in July. Among African Americans, Trump's at a net rating of roughly negative 47 points in the DDHQ aggregate. Since mid-June, his disapproval has climbed from around 63 percent to roughly 72 percent — up nearly 20 points from his first couple of weeks back in office. Although losing some ground is to be expected, given Trump's overall score, 'the African American movement, it's measurable, it's significant,' Tranter said. 'He's about the same in where he is with Hispanics as he was on Inauguration Day, but it's very clear he's lost with African Americans.' Trump's November gains didn't occur in a vacuum or all at once. While the overwhelming majority of Black voters identify as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, the party's decades-long advantage has weakened somewhat based on polling and some election results. Republicans attributed the improvements to a feeling among some Black voters that Democrats took their support for granted without specifically addressing their needs. 'President Trump's historic performance with Black voters in November marks a significant shift in our community, showing that more people are willing to look beyond party labels and focus on real, tangible solutions,' said Janiyah Thomas, who served as Black media director for Trump's 2024 campaign. She said these voters appreciated his focus on economic growth and criminal justice reform during his first term. Trump signed bipartisan legislation in 2018 called the First Step Act to reduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes. Thomas argued 'false media narratives' overshadow Trump's achievements, and all Americans want 'real results: safer communities, better jobs, and opportunities to build a better future,' she said. Republican strategist Melik Abdul said an uptick in Black support for Republican candidates has happened since at least 2018, suggesting the change is less about Trump and more about the party. 'We focus so much of our attention at the national level that we ignore what's happening on the state level,' he said, pointing to the inroads that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) made with Black voters in their 2022 reelection campaigns. But he argued Trump and the party have 'misread' what they should learn from the increase and wrongly presume that the new voters they gained will stay. He attributed the shift in 2024 to dissatisfaction with the Biden administration, warning the votes for Trump aren't 'static' going into the midterms next year. Abdul said he doesn't read as much into any single approval rating poll because they are often in response to the news of the day, but he isn't surprised to see a drop in support given some developments in his second term, like the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts and concerns about Medicaid cuts as a result of the Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill, which he signed into law Friday. 'You hear the concerns that people have around Medicaid, whether it personally will impact them or not,' he said. 'They hear it, and when you hear stories of people potentially losing Medicaid, obviously that's something that will impact poll numbers.' New polling from YouGov/The Economist, taken over the weekend, found 15 percent of Black voters approve of Trump, compared to 20 percent in an early June survey and 28 percent in early February. YouGov's tracker, last populated in mid-June, puts Trump's disapproval among Black Americans at roughly 86 percent, hitting the high point of his first-term ratings from the group. 'There are decisions that the Trump administration is making that could be circulating in Black communities, that could be factored in,' said Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University with a focus on African American politics. She pointed to some of the administration's controversial economic moves — which have served as a drag on his overall numbers after his 2024 messaging on the economy was seen as key to his inroads with voters of color — but also to Trump's posture toward diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and his rhetoric on racial issues. 'You may be OK with America bombing Iran over nuclear weapons, but you may take issue with having heard that Pete Hegseth and the Defense Department pulled a lot of books about Black people off the shelves at Annapolis, or pulled down pages that honor Jackie Robinson [as] a veteran because it was deemed DEI,' Gillespie said, referencing a Pentagon-ordered review of books at the Naval Academy library and what the Defense Department said was the mistaken removal of a webpage about Robinson. Brown University political science professor Katherine Tate, however, suggested that while Trump's controversial moves on culture war issues appear to be strengthening Black opposition to Trump, it's not necessarily turning off Black supporters who sided with him in 2024. '[Black] Trump supporters are pleased with the deportations and tax cuts. I think Trump has moved these [Black voters] to the GOP,' Tate told The Hill in an email. 'While not a big number, it's more than the single digits of the 1980s. So that is a legacy for Trump: he moved some Blacks to his party.' Trump won the White House by making 'a lot of promises' and tapping into voter anger and confusion, said Democratic strategist Antjuan Seawright. Now, he's 'essentially giving Black America the middle finger' — but that doesn't mean Democrats don't have their work cut out for them to reclaim voters who turned to the GOP last year. 'We have to look down the field as Democrats,' Seawright said. 'Just because they don't like Trump doesn't mean that they're going to automatically wrap themselves around us.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
