Florida paper accuses Ron DeSantis of having to 'cheat' to hold onto office

According to the editorial board of the Palm Beach Post, attempts by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to meddle in the efforts by the state legislature to create a new Congressional map is not only racist but also a sign he has to "cheat" to hold onto power.

The editorial notes that the controversial governor, who has his eye on running for president, is attempting to create districts even more 'partisan" than the one the state's GOP lawmakers have proposed.

In a blunt appraisal of the Republican governor's efforts, the editors began by bluntly writing: "Gov. Ron DeSantis to Florida: If your skin is dark, don't vote."

The editors continued, "The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project, which analyzes redistricting nationwide to understand and eliminate partisan gerrymandering, rates DeSantis' plan an 'F' for partisan fairness," before accusing, "But that was the whole idea, to tilt the board to favor his party, rather than follow the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and Florida's Fair Districts amendments, which were meant to prevent such undemocratic game-playing."

Adding, "If DeSantis follows through on his promise to veto the Florida Legislature's maps and pushes the issue into the courts, he gains a chance to skew elections for years to come, if he succeeds in toppling precedents that favor fairness to minority voters."

"A righteous politician might support policies that win votes by advocating equity and opportunity for all," they suggested before getting right to the point and stating, "In other words, if DeSantis and his party just did the right thing, they wouldn't have to cheat. Instead our governor crafts ever-more-intricate ways to shunt minorities away from ballot boxes, or in this case, toward ballot boxes in diluted districts where their votes won't have much impact."

"There's one reason for all of this and one reason alone: African-Americans know that by and large, Republican candidates don't have their interests in mind, so Republicans seek out every slimy, legalistic way they can to minimize those likely Democratic votes," they wrote before concluding, "Florida's governor and the state GOP are entitled to make their best efforts to persuade others to the wisdom of conservative values. They're not entitled to mess with voting rights and democracy. True conservatives understand that."

You can read the entire editorial here.