Andrew Pantazi - The Tributary

The map submitted by Jacksonville City Council failed to fix the problem and made few changes to racially gerrymandered districts, the plaintiffs said.

A judge struck down the city's earlier map as racial gerrymandering, but it’s not clear that the council has enough votes to approve new map.

City Council President Terrance Freeman said City Council will pass a new map by Nov. 4, four days before the court’s deadline — while still appealing the court ruling.

At the same time, City Council has decided to start creating new maps to comply with a court order that found the city's redistricting unconstitutional.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard found that City Council diluted Black voting power by packing Black voters into four districts.

U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard didn’t say which way she was going to rule, but she plans to file a written order that either strikes down or preserves the Jacksonville City Council and Duval School Board districts that plaintiffs say were racially gerrymandered.

The groups say Jacksonville City Council's redistricting plans should be overturned before the 2023 election because the new maps disenfranchise Black voters.

The mayoral race highlights how Florida’s campaign finance laws make it easy to hide money and court big-dollar donations.

Sheriff Mike Williams sold his Jacksonville home and moved to suburban Nassau County more than a year ago even as he continued serving as Duval County’s sheriff. He said he has no plans to step down as sheriff.

Circuit Judge J. Layne Smith ordered the state to adopt a map that maintains an east-to-west version of Jacksonville’s 5th Congressional District, stretching from Duval to Gadsden counties. Gov. Ron DeSantis had called that idea racial gerrymandering.