Related story: New map carves barrier island into three districts for state House
By Joel Engelhardt
Despite the larger size of Senate districts, the southernmost section of Boca Raton (south of Glades Road) would fall into a Senate District 30 dominated by Broward County residents. Voters in the district, which went 60-40 for Joe Biden in 2020, could be asked to pick between incumbent Democrats Gary Farmer and Tina Polsky.
Sen. Lori Berman, a Democrat, holds the Delray-Boynton District 31 now, which runs from Highland Beach to South Palm Beach along the coast. She would lose several coastal communities in a new District 26, which would extend along the beach from Glades Road to the Boynton Inlet. It would go farther west than her current district, spanning the whole county to take in Belle Glade and South Bay.
The voting-age population would be 65% white, 15.8% black and 14.5% Hispanic.
District residents voted 58-41 for Biden.
Farther north, District 24 would start at the Boynton Inlet and stretch along the coast through Hypoluxo, Lantana, Manalapan and South Palm Beach all the way to PGA Boulevard, roughly approximating Sen. Bobby Powell’s current District 30. The district went 62-38 for Biden.
The new maps passed with bipartisan support in the Florida Senate and the Florida House.
Unlike congressional maps, the state House and Senate maps are not reviewable by the governor. The last stop before they become law is the Florida Supreme Court.
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