Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times: High stakes redistricting process to start. Will Florida redeem bruised reputation?

Florida politicians, start your engines.

The once-a-decade process of redrawing political boundaries to adjust for population growth officially begins Thursday as the U.S. Census Bureau releases detailed results from the 2020 Census, providing the shotgun start to what has traditionally been one of the most politically charged battles in Florida’s capital city.

The numbers in the redistricting data file will become the foundation for the Florida Legislature, and local cities and counties, to redraw their political districts. It’s an important task because it can influence who gets elected, how well various communities that are often left out of the political process are represented, and how federal funds are allocated.

The stakes are high.

For Florida Republicans, who control the process, this redistricting cycle will be an opportunity to redeem a reputation that was marred 10 years ago when courts intervened because they had allowed political operatives to conduct an illegal shadow map-drawing process behind the scenes as their leaders claimed their actions were honorable and transparent . …

When there is no guarantee of serious competition, “incumbents have no motivation to work across the aisle and more importantly, little to no motivation to actually represent all of the people in their community, rather than just kind of those steadfast supporters that form the core of their districts,’’ said Suzanne Almeida, redistricting and representation counsel at Common Cause.