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GOP Wants Challenge To State Senate Redistricting Map Tossed

TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) – The Republican-led state Legislature wants a legal challenge to redistricting map of the Florida Senate thrown out.

The challenge, lodged by the League of Women Voters of Florida and other plaintiffs, claims that the redistricting map violates an anti-gerrymandering amendment in the Florida Constitution,

On Monday, former Justice Raoul Cantero filed the petition to the Florida Supreme Court on behalf of the House and Senate.

Cantero wants the high court to order a trial judge to dismiss the challenge. He contends only the Supreme Court can resolve such cases and that it already has done so.

Circuit Judge Terry Lewis rejected that claim last month in Tallahassee and ordered the case to proceed. Lewis wrote that the Legislature's argument "flies in the face of case law."

(TM and © Copyright 2013 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service of Florida and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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