Menu
In response to Jacksonville City Council’s decision to appeal Federal Judge Marcia Morales Howard’s preliminary injunction blocking their gerrymandered maps, Duval County Democratic Party Vice Chair Jennifer Cowart released the following statement:
JACKSONVILLE, FL — “As the City Council moves to appropriate over a million dollars of taxpayer money to fight their own constituents in court, the Duval County Democratic Party requests they change course and instead work with their constituents to draw fair maps.
“Last night, the plaintiffs in the redistricting case presented an olive branch by submitting a proposed remedial map. We applaud their willingness to seek a settlement in this case to avoid the city’s pursuit of further litigation.
“City Council now has a unique opportunity to bring our community together and be fiscally prudent. If the City Council chooses to further divide our community with its costly strategy to defend racially gerrymandered maps, at taxpayers’ expense, then they are choosing to protect incumbency over fair representation.
“It is time for City Council to proceed with a fair and equitable redistricting process and drop their appeal. They must produce logically shaped and racially balanced maps by the court-imposed deadline.”