Hispanic groups object to districts

A coalition of Hispanic groups wants the federal government to scrap new voting districts approved by the Hillsborough County Commission this year, saying the districts make it difficult, if not impossible, to elect an Hispanic commissioner.

Members of the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition signed an objection to the new districts Wednesday that will be sent to the U.S. Department of Justice. Hillsborough is one of five Florida counties whose redistricting plans must be reviewed, or "pre-cleared," by the Justice Department every 10 years to make sure minority voting strength is not diluted.

The groups cite a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act that says minority voting strength can't be weakened in such a way to make election of a minority candidate less likely. They say that is what happened when Hillsborough commissioners approved a map that reduced the Hispanic population in District 1.

Hispanics would make up 35 percent of the district's population if the 2001 boundaries were left in place, but that number is reduced to 32 percent with the new lines.

Hispanics accounted for 94 percent of the population growth in District 1 between 2000 and 2010, said Diana Sen, senior counsel with Latino Justice, a national Hispanic civil rights group. Yet under the commission's redistricting plan, the total Hispanic population increases by only 6 percent from 10 years ago.

"We think the Spanish voting strength is being weakened at a time when it should be increasing because of the huge growth in Hispanic population," Sen said.

Hispanic leaders say they are frustrated because the explosive growth of Spanish-speaking residents in Hillsborough County is not reflected on the commission. The number of Hispanics in the county grew by 70 percent between the 2000 and 2010 census, making it the fastest growing ethnic group. Of the county's current population of 1.2 million people, 300,000 are Hispanics.

Christopher Cano, vice chairman of the county Hispanic Democratic Caucus, said Hillsborough became a pre-clearance county because of past discrimination against Hispanics, not African-Americans. The county has an official "minority" district that regularly elects black commissioners, but there is no such district for Hispanics, he said.

"When I look at the Hillsborough County Commission, there is no one who looks like me, that represents my interests, because there are no Hispanics," Cano said.

Hispanic leaders decided to challenge the county's redistricting plan after the commission rejected their proposal. The group suggested redrawing District 1, now represented by Republican Sandy Murman, to increase the Hispanic population to 35.7 percent.

Instead, commissioners voted 6-1 in favor of a map that held the Hispanic population to 32 percent while adding Republican-leaning neighborhoods to the district. Patrick Manteiga, editor of the tri-lingual weekly newspaper La Gaceta, charged that the Republican majority on the commission drew lines to protect Murman.

"It was to make sure they had as many safe Republican districts as possible and that they packed Democratic Hispanics and Democratic blacks into (Commissioner) Les Miller's district," said Manteiga, who is a Democrat and a member of the Hispanic Coalition.

Murman said Wednesday she had not seen the coalition's objection, but thought her district was fairly drawn. District 1 stretches from the northern edge of the county in Odessa, hugging the Tampa Bay coastline to the south to the Little Manatee River.

"The one characteristic of my district is that I represent all the coastal communities, and that is what the deciding factor was as we moved forward with the districts," Murman said.

Miller, the only black and one of two Democrats on the commission, voted for the new redistricting plan. Now, he is pushing to add a fifth single-member district, reducing the number of countywide districts to two.

Miller says his plan could open the way for a district where a Hispanic commissioner could be elected.

"That way the commissioner is closer to the people, and you have a fifth single-member district that you might be able to get that Hispanic number up to 35 percent," he said.

But county Hispanic leaders have not warmed to Miller's plan, said Victor DiMaio, vice chairman of the Hispanic Coalition.

Sen, the lawyer for Latino Justice, said she expects a reply from the Justice Department soon. The department's 60-day review of the county's plan ends Tuesday.