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After months of delay, Gov. DeSantis sets special elections for South Florida legislative seats

Gov. Ron DeSantis
Scott Keeler
/
Associated Press
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Gov. Ron DeSantis set special elections for three soon-to-be-vacant state legislative seats Wednesday night, an action he’d delayed for months. DeSantis acted just 12 days after the Harvard Election Law Clinic filed a lawsuit on behalf of Broward and Palm Beach County voters seeking a judge’s order compelling him to set the election dates.

The vacancies, effective at the beginning of January, have been certain since the end of July. Because DeSantis didn’t set the special elections when he first knew about the pending vacancies, the three South Florida legislative seats — all held by Black Democrats from Broward and Palm Beach counties —may remain vacant through the 2022 legislative session.

DeSantis set the legislative primaries to coincide with a Jan. 11 congressional general election and the legislative general elections to coincide with city, town and village elections, which are taking place in much of the two counties on March 8.

Read more at our news partner the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

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