Welcome to

Florida lawmakers are in the State Capitol tonight for a rare special session after a judge found Republican leaders were wrong to allow GOP consultants to draw the states congressional lines. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, leaders are now promising a quick fix.

Lawmakers came to the Capitol for a rare and rushed special session. They pledged allegiance, and vowed to do a better job of drawing the states congressional maps the second time around. House Speaker Will Weatherford was in charge of and defended the map drawing, but not the consultants. “I’m disappointed in what I saw myself, upon reflection, and frankly upon testimony that some political operatives were doing.”

Judge Terry Lewis said allowing GOP consultants to draw politically motivated maps made a mockery of the process.

Bill Galvano of Bradenton is now in charge of map drawing for the State Senate. We asked about input this time around Q:” No input from consultants?”

“None. None” responded the state Senator.

A Jacksonville to Orlando and a Central Florida district must be redrawn. Moving lines could impact neighboring districts.

The best guess is that this special session is costing in excess of 68 thousand dollars a day.

State Senator Audrey Gibson isn’t taking any of the blame. “Well. I thought we followed the constitution the first time. Obviously, the judge sees it a little differently” she says.

The biggest question is whether the maps will delay the November election for some congressional seats. Leadership is strongly opposing any 2014 election delays.

“We would certainly stand our ground in our position that it should not effect the 2014 election cycle” said Will Weatherford when asked by a gaggle of reporters.

Democrats asked why the same people are being allowed to draw maps, and the voters coalition that won the law suit says it will submit its own map to both lawmakers and the judge.

One state Senator is proposing a compromise for election dates, suggesting the August Primary be run on existing maps while basing the November election on the newly drawn maps.