Florida Redistricting Map Shows Stephanie Murphy Seat Deleted, Republicans Gain 

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 27: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) gets emotional as she speaks during
Jim Lo Scalzo-Pool/Getty Images
Wendell Husebo

The Florida legislature released a redistricting map Monday afternoon that indicates Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s (D-FL) current seat will be essentially deleted, while Republicans stand to gain two seats.

The proposed map seems to fully represent just how red Florida has become in the last ten years. If the map holds true and is approved by the legislature in January, Murphy’s currently held seat that includes northern Orlando (Seminole County) will be torn in two.

The seat will be divvied between a northern red district and a western blue district with a high percentage of black voters. Murphy, who is from the northern side of Orlando, would be left campaigning for the northern red seat, a district she is likely to lose.

The deletion of Murphy’s seat benefits Republicans’ hopes of picking up two seats in the House by redistricting alone. In total, 18 seats would favor Republicans and ten would benefit Democrats. The map also indicates a brand new tossup district created just north of Tampa, west of Orlando, and south of The Villages.

The redrawn boundary of Murphy’s district 7 would mostly replace Rep. Val Demings’ district ten, “a seat designed to give Black voters representation,” the Orlando Sentinel noted. It bears mentioning that Demings announced a Senate campaign against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) this summer, leaving Murphy to run for a seat that was shaped for Demings.

The map’s potential new district lines have State Rep. and U.S. congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini (R), who is filed to run for district seven, expecting to either primary Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL), whose district is west of Orlando (Lake County), or run in the northern red district six (Seminole and Volusia County).

Sabatini suspects Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) will move up to district 5 because it includes his hometown of St. Augustine Beach, paving the way for Sabatini. Waltz’s current district is six and includes some of the areas of the old district seven.

Sabatini told Breitbart News he would prefer to run for the new district six and not primary Webster in Lake County. Webster has indicated he will run for reelection, though he has been in Washington, DC, since 2011 after serving 28 years in the Florida legislature.

“My main focus is giving voters a choice between the establishment and American First policies,” Sabatini said. “No matter which district becomes viable, my politics will not change. Let’s go Brandon!”

Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø

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