WEEKLY ROUNDUP
Sports betting gets boost
TALLAHASSEE — Voting-rights groups headed to the courthouse after Republican lawmakers last year approved a congressional redistricting plan pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
And in September, it looked like the groups might succeed: A Leon County circuit judge ruled that the plan violated the state Constitution because of the way it overhauled a North Florida district that in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson.
But the picture changed this week when the 1st District Court of Appeal heard arguments, with some judges clearly skeptical of the groups’ arguments.
The groups, such as the League of Women Voters of Florida and Florida Rising Together, and other plaintiffs contend that the overhaul of North Florida’s Congressional District 5 violated part of a 2010 constitutional amendment that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.” The overhaul led to white Republicans getting elected in all North Florida congressional districts in the 2022 elections.
Jyoti Jasrasaria, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said during Tuesday’s appeals-court hearing that the Florida Supreme Court in 2015 approved the Lawson district and that DeSantis defied Supreme Court precedent in pushing for the changes last year.
“The only map that is before this court is the enacted map (approved in 2022), and that map, it’s undisputed, does not comply with the Florida Constitution,” Jasrasaria said.
But Judge Adam Tanenbaum, who was appointed to the bench by DeSantis, asked at one point why the appeals court shouldn’t question the 2015 Supreme Court decision.
“It’s acting in a political capacity when it’s drawing a district, which is the same with what the Legislature typically would do,” Tanenbaum said. “So why isn’t it fair to question what the Supreme Court did when it was enacting, or approving the enactment, of (a) court-drawn set of districts?”
State Solicitor General Henry Whitaker said lawmakers last year drew a “race-neutral map” and that keeping a district that mirrored the Lawson district would have been an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
Judge Robert Long, another DeSantis appointee, said the Florida Supreme Court has not addressed the equal-protection argument and how that should affect the interpretation of the 2010 state constitutional amendment, known as the Fair Districts amendment.
“There’s nothing that has discussed this equal protection issue in light of the Fair Districts amendment,” Long said.
It is not clear when the appeals court will rule, but the case is expected to go to the Florida Supreme Court. That seven-member court includes five DeSantis appointees.
KICKING OFF SPORTS BETTING
If everything goes as planned, gamblers will be able to bet on the 2024 Super Bowl at Seminole Tribe casinos in Florida.
The tribe this week announced it will roll out sports betting at its casinos in December — a first step in what could be a major expansion of gambling in Florida triggered by a go-ahead from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The announcement came after more than two years of legal wrangling about a 2021 deal with the state that allowed the Seminoles to offer online sports betting anywhere in Florida and add craps and roulette to their casinos.
While the deal would allow sports betting statewide, the tribe is moving forward initially with a more-limited step of in-person sports betting at its six Florida facilities. A lawsuit challenging broader online sports betting remains pending at the Florida Supreme Court.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 25 refused to block the 2021 deal, which was signed by DeSantis and Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr. and ratified by state lawmakers. That case was filed in federal court by two pari-mutuel companies opposed to the online betting plan. The pending Florida Supreme Court case is separate from the federal lawsuit.
Pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court decision, a news release issued Wednesday by the Seminole Tribe and Seminole Hard Rock said they plan “to celebrate ‘A New Era in Florida Gaming’ with star-studded celebrations” next month.
The Seminoles will start offering sports betting, craps and roulette at the tribe’s three South Florida casinos on Dec. 7, the release said. The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa will launch the games on Dec. 8, and the tribe’s casinos in Immokalee and Brighton will follow on Dec. 11.
The Super Bowl will be held Feb. 11.
NO LOVE LOST
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and DeSantis are widely believed to have a frosty relationship.
So perhaps it wasn’t surprising this week when Scott endorsed former President Donald Trump over DeSantis in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. But the move couldn’t have been welcome for DeSantis, who continues to trail Trump badly in polls.
Scott, who served two terms as governor before getting elected to the Senate in 2018, wrote an opinion piece in Newsweek that said he supports “my friend President Donald J. Trump” and encourages “every Republican to unite behind his efforts to win back the White House.”
The opinion piece did not mention DeSantis or other GOP candidates by name, but it caused a stir in Florida political circles.
“I know most of the candidates running for president, and I respect their decision to put themselves through this very difficult process,” Scott, who is running for re-election in 2024, wrote. “They’ve made their case to voters, laid out their agendas and their plans, and told their stories. Make no mistake: every single one of them would be a better president than Joe Biden. But Republican voters are making their voices heard loud and clear. They want to return to the leadership of Donald Trump.”
STORY OF THE WEEK: Members of a state appeals court appeared skeptical of a challenge to a congressional redistricting plan passed last year.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “It’s time for the Republican Party to come together, behind one candidate, and declare with one voice that we are united in our efforts to defeat Joe Biden and rescue America.” — U.S. Sen. Rick Scott as he endorsed former President Donald Trump over Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the GOP presidential nomination.