Lawsuit alleges Florida’s map packs Black voters from St. Petersburg and Tampa into a single district, undermining equal representation
MIAMI, FL – Today, a federal court in Tampa begins a trial in Nord Hodges v. Albritton, a racial gerrymandering lawsuit challenging Florida’s state Senate map for violating the constitutional rights of voters in the Tampa Bay region. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLUFL) and the Civil Rights & Racial Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law on behalf of three St. Petersburg and Tampa voters.
Plaintiffs argue that the Legislature prioritized race over traditional districting principles — such as compactness and respecting political boundaries — despite having alternative maps that would have complied with state and federal law without packing Black voters into a single district.
“This case is about more than maps — it’s about the dilution of political power,” said Bacardi Jackson, executive director of the ACLU of Florida. “When lawmakers choose to prioritize outdated assumptions about where Black voters ‘belong’ over meaningful representation, it reinforces structural inequities. We’re here to ensure that voters in Tampa and St. Petersburg are no longer crammed into one district in a way that diminishes the value of their votes.”
“No community should be treated unfairly in redistricting,” said Caroline McNamara, staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida. “Far from advancing opportunities for Black voters, the district the politicians drew artificially constrained them. The court will now hear how this racial gerrymander violates the Constitution.”
“Today, we’re standing up for what’s right,” said Meiko Seymour, a local pastor, St. Pete resident, and plaintiff in the case. “Crossing Tampa Bay to pack Black people into a single district all the way from USF to the Skyway Bridge diminishes our voice, suppresses our votes, and just plain doesn’t make sense.”
Trial is expected to continue throughout the week.
Read more about the case here.
