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The gap between the safety harness and the seat Tyre Sampson fell from was over twice as large as the gap seen in other seats on the same ride.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida lawmakers will return to the Capitol Tuesday to begin a special session to approve a new congressional map after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the previous GOP-backed boundaries that preserved minority districts.

The work should be easy, given that Republican leaders have already conceded the once-a-decade process to DeSantis.

Much to the dismay of Democrats and voting rights groups, House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson told lawmakers last week that neither chamber was going to try to draw a new map, but rather vote on the heavily pro-GOP map DeSantis gave them.

“They’re giving up their right to make a decision and they are relenting to a governor who is essentially a narcissistic autocrat,” said Democratic state Rep. Michael Grieco during a Monday news conference.

The map DeSantis submitted would likely create more Republican seats than the maps approved by the Legislature. It would also likely reduce Black representation in Florida’s delegation from four to two.

While DeSantis, who is a potential 2024 presidential candidate, said his map is “race neutral,” Black lawmakers say it is racist.

“To Gov. DeSantis, I’m not going to call what you’re doing a culture war anymore, I’m going to call it just what it is: It’s a racist tactic that you’re doing. And you know what you’re doing,” Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones said at a news conference with other Black elected officials and community leaders.

He said it will be an incentive to get people to vote when DeSantis is up for reelection in November.

“When you come for one of us, you come for all of us, and we will not allow you to dilute our districts with representation for your own political gain. You lose,” Jones said.

The governor’s communications office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Florida is adding a 28th congressional district because of population growth over the decade. The vote this week on the DeSantis map won’t be the end of the process since it will be the focus of legal challenges.

Qualifying for federal office will run from June 13-17.

It won’t be the only special session held this year. DeSantis on Monday said he would sign an order this week to bring the Legislature back in May to address rising property insurance rates.

The League of Women Voters of Florida said the DeSantis map violates the state constitution, which requires contiguous districts that don’t benefit or hurt a political party, incumbent or candidate. It also says districts can’t be drawn to reduce minority access to elect representatives.

But DeSantis argues that since the provision was passed by voters in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled race can’t be a primary factor in drawing districts.

The League of Women Voters of Florida issued a news release calling on lawmakers to find courage and do their jobs instead of conceding to DeSantis.

“The legislature’s irresponsible plan to capitulate to the aggression of the Governor nullifies the constitutionally mandated separation of the three branches of government and is moving in the direction of an autocracy,” said league President Cecile Scoon.

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Dave McCormick earned more than $22 million last year as CEO of the world’s largest hedge fund, a job he quit to run for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, according to a financial disclosure form that offered the public its first detailed look at the candidate’s finances.

McCormick and his wife estimated the value of their assets between $116 million and $289 million, including a valuable stake in Bridgewater Associates, the company he ran until early January. If elected, he’d be among the wealthiest U.S. senators.

McCormick is part of a trio of ultrarich candidates, including celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz, to come from out of state to run for the Republican nomination for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat. The primary is May 17, and the November general election to replace retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey could help determine party control of the chamber.

He moved to Pennsylvania from Connecticut, where he had lived for years while working for Bridgewater.

Like Oz, regarded as his chief rival for the nomination, McCormick is using his personal wealth to fund his campaign. The businessman has contributed almost $7 million to his campaign through March 31, according to his most recent campaign finance report. Virtually unknown to Pennsylvania voters before launching his campaign, McCormick has since blanketed the airwaves with millions of dollars in TV ads that portray him as a jeans-wearing, Pennsylvania-born everyman who found success.

McCormick listed more than 160 assets with value, including stocks, mutual funds, corporate and government bonds and real estate, on a disclosure that he filed after business hours on Friday of the Easter holiday weekend.

He owns homes in Dallas and New York City worth a combined $10 million to $50 million. Together, those properties generated rental income of $200,000 to $2 million, according to the disclosure, which requires candidates to provide a range and not an exact value. McCormick also has a ranch in Colorado and his family’s farm outside Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. He listed a principal residence in Pittsburgh, pegging its value at $1 million to $5 million.

McCormick has touted his Pennsylvania roots, calling himself “Pennsylvanian true” as he describes growing up on his family’s Christmas tree farm. McCormick has also continued to hitch himself to Donald Trump even after the former president recently endorsed Oz, who quit his eponymous TV show to run for Senate.

McCormick owns dozens of corporate bonds, from Delta Airlines to General Electric to UPS, the disclosure said.

In addition to taking home $22.5 million in salary from Bridgewater, McCormick also reported owning company stock valued at more than $50 million. He also got $2.2 million from the sale of options in Bechtel, an engineering and construction firm on whose board he sits.

Liabilities include two 30-year mortgages, each listed between $5 million and $25 million, as well as a line of credit pegged at $5 million to $25 million. He also listed $4.75 million to $18 million in capital commitments to various investment funds.

Earlier this month, Oz reported assets of between $104 million and $422 million. He has said he put $10 million into his campaign in Pennsylvania. Another wealthy candidate from out of state, Carla Sands, filed a public disclosure of assets last year, valuing more than 50 accounts or properties at between $35 million and $152 million.

Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On the latest “All INdiana Politics,” News 8 looks at the political fight over a bill that would drop Indiana’s requirement for a permit to carry a handgun.
If Gov. Holcomb signs the handgun permit bill into law, will Hoosiers be less safe?
Plus, find out what Indiana’s congressional delegation thinks of Wednesday’s address to Congress by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“All INdiana Politics” airs at 9:30 a.m. Sundays on WISH-TV.
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