09 May 2021
A former Trump administration official is aiming to win the House back for Republicans with a new redistricting group focused on Florida that he's launching Monday.
Why it matters: With multiple competitive seats, an extra seat the state is receiving because of population growth and the once-a-decade redistricting process, "whoever controls the U.S. House could come through Florida — and I think it will come through Florida," Carlos Trujillo told Axios.
- Just as Democrats looked to California to flip control of the House in the 2018 midterms, this group of Republicans sees Florida as the path back to House control in 2022.
- Trujillo, a former Florida lawmaker, was President Trump's ambassador to the Organization of American States.
The big picture: Redistricting will be an important tool nationally for Republicans, because they control the process in 18 states, compared to Democrats' seven.
- They also have complete control in Florida.
Last go-around, the Florida Supreme Courtstruck down GOP-drawn maps, ruling they had been gerrymandered to favor the party.
- But "the Supreme Court has completely turned over in Florida over the last 10 years," Trujillo said. "So our hope is the maps that are presented — as long as they're in compliance with the state Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act — should be ratified by a nonactivist Florida Supreme Court."
- Trujillo worked on the state House's redistricting committee during his freshman term in the legislature.
- He told Axios he thinks his new nonprofit‚ called Democracy Now,will help provide a counterweight to groups like the League of Women Voters Florida, which sued last time over gerrymandered maps.
Districts to watch: Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist is no longer seeking reelection for Florida's 13th District, and fellow Democratic Reps. Val Demings and Stephanie Murphy are both considering forgoing reelection to run for statewide office.
- With five current vacancies in the House,three flipped seats would be enough to split the chamber between Republicans and Democrats
- "I think that's how competitive and how instrumental Florida will be. It's not only for the next election cycle, but really for the next 10 years in the country," Trujillo said.
- Plus, Florida is receiving an additional seat from reapportionment, based on the results of the most recent census.
Between the lines: Besides helping legislators draw maps and redistricting advocacy, Democracy Now will focus on issues related to legal immigration and access to courts.
- The group expects to announce its board in the coming weeks.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.