12th District shifts west

About that proposed open congressional seat in Pasco County? It lasted about a week.

Florida's House Redistricting Committee switched gears Friday, approving a new congressional map that shifts the state's 12th District farther west.

"This map has big political ramifications for Pasco County," Rep. John Legg said. "To my disappointment, the map includes north Pinellas and northwest Hillsborough, but it picks up Palm Harbor. It's pretty much everything in Pinellas north of Tampa Road, which puts it in (U.S. Rep. Gus) Bilirakis' seat."

A week earlier, the committee endorsed a map that contained only a small segment of Pinellas (East Lake) and would have stretched as far east as Lutz. Two-thirds of the district's population would live in Pasco.

Bilirakis has served three terms in Congress and has raised more than $334,500 for his re-election in 2012.

Both Legg, R-New Port Richey, and Redistricting Committee Chairman Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, voted for the new map. "This was a compromise that was reached with the Senate," Legg said. "We voted for it. It was a strict party-line vote. But it wasn't my first choice. It wasn't even my second choice. It was a solid C choice."

In the latest version, scheduled for a House vote Friday, the 12th District loses voters in Lutz and Carrollwood but picks them up in Oldsmar, Palm Harbor and Tarpon Springs.

"Now it will cause Gus Bilirakis to run in a district that's two-thirds Pasco," Legg said.

State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, has said he would announce his intentions after the final maps are approved. "I think Fasano could easily win that seat," Legg said.

The new map also puts freshman U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent in the same district as Ocala Republican Cliff Sterns, who has been in Congress since 1988.

Weatherford said he expects the Florida Senate to approve the latest congressional map.

"This map was a compromise product," Weatherford said after the vote. "At the end of the day, what both chambers have talked about was trying to create the most legally compliant map as possible. We feel like we've done that."

The Redistricting Committee approved new Senate districts that already passed the upper chamber this week. The map, which keeps much of central and southeast Pasco in Sen. Jim Norman's district, has rankled local officials.

Legg, who has filed to run for the new District 11 Senate seat, said the committee questioned whether the district, which combines much of northern Pasco County with Sumter County, meets the constitutional standard for compactness.

"There are still a lot of questions about that Jim Norman seat," Legg said. "When you've got Holiday in the same Senate district with Sumter County, I think the court will say does that meet the standard?"

Weatherford said he, too, was disappointed. "Part of the process of redistricting is you don't always get what you want," he said. "Am I completely happy with how Pasco County is drawn? No. But I don't want to set up a confrontation with the Senate, either."

Weatherford said his priority was to adhere to the legal standards and to take politics out of the redistricting process. He pointed out that the new House map would draw 35 incumbents out of their districts.

"There's not an ounce of political intent in this map. Almost a third of the legislators in our chamber are drawn out of the seat," he said. "We all raise our right hand every two years and swear to protect and uphold the constitution of Florida and the United States. We take that very seriously. Both Democrats and Republicans in this chamber recognize there is a greater sense of authority in this process, and that is the constitution. And when it tells us we have to do something, we have to follow it. If it means some people are drawn out of their district, that's what it means."

The House plans to debate the maps tomorrow and vote Friday. Legg said he doesn't expect any major changes. "I think the paint is starting to dry on these maps," he said.