Pensacola has added 1,623 new voters since the end of May 2019. according to the Supervisor of Elections’ website. Whites made up 67% of the additions –1,089, followed by Other (259, 16%), Blacks (215, 13%) and Hispanics (60, 4%).
Whites have have a greater than 50% majority in six of the seven city districts. District 3 (Andy Terhaar) and District 4 (Jarod Moore) remain the whitest city districts.
District 5 (John Jerralds) saw its minority percentage drop 0.5% as white voters now comprise 50.2% of the registered voters.
Minority voters make up 52.7% of District 7 (Jewel Cannada-Wynn). Last year the minority voters were 53.6%.
District 6 (Ann Hill) also has become more white – with the percentage increasing 1.1%.
District 2 (Sherri Myers) was the only district to lose voters overall – down 268. The districts that added the most voters were District 5 (209, District 6 (232) and District 7 (236).
| District | Council Rep | |||||
| CY 1 | P.C. Wu | |||||
| 5/29/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 5050 | 85.0% | 4936 | 85.1% | 114 | |
| Black | 396 | 6.7% | 398 | 6.9% | -2 | |
| Hispanic | 144 | 2.4% | 140 | 2.4% | 4 | |
| Other | 350 | 5.9% | 328 | 5.7% | 22 | |
| Total | 5940 | 100.0% | 5802 | 100.0% | 138 | |
| CY 2 | S. Myers | |||||
| 5/29/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 4160 | 74.7% | 4342 | 74.3% | -182 | |
| Black | 862 | 15.5% | 915 | 15.7% | -53 | |
| Hispanic | 177 | 3.2% | 182 | 3.1% | -5 | |
| Other | 373 | 6.7% | 401 | 6.9% | -28 | |
| Total | 5572 | 100.0% | 5840 | 100.0% | -268 | |
| CY 3 | Â Terhaar | |||||
| 5/29/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 5599 | 89.6% | 5499 | 89.9% | 100 | |
| Black | 177 | 2.8% | 181 | 3.0% | -4 | |
| Hispanic | 135 | 2.2% | 120 | 2.0% | 15 | |
| Other | 340 | 5.4% | 317 | 5.2% | 23 | |
| Total | 6251 | 100.0% | 6117 | 100.0% | 134 | |
| CY 4 | J. Moore | |||||
| 5/30/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 5861 | 91.2% | 5736 | 91.3% | 125 | |
| Black | 170 | 2.6% | 163 | 2.6% | 7 | |
| Hispanic | 106 | 1.6% | 100 | 1.6% | 6 | |
| Other | 293 | 4.6% | 282 | 4.5% | 11 | |
| Total | 6430 | 100.0% | 6281 | 100.0% | 149 | |
| CY5 | J Jerralds | |||||
| 5/30/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 2969 | 50.2% | 2841 | 49.7% | 128 | |
| Black | 2580 | 43.6% | 2535 | 44.4% | 45 | |
| Hispanic | 95 | 1.6% | 83 | 1.5% | 12 | |
| Other | 276 | 4.7% | 252 | 4.4% | 24 | |
| Total | 5920 | 100.0% | 5711 | 100.0% | 209 | |
| CY 6 | A. Hill | |||||
| 5/30/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 3590 | 57.7% | 3394 | 56.6% | 196 | |
| Black | 2270 | 36.5% | 2212 | 36.9% | 58 | |
| Hispanic | 102 | 1.6% | 90 | 1.5% | 12 | |
| Other | 262 | 4.2% | 296 | 4.9% | -34 | |
| Total | 6224 | 100.0% | 5992 | 100.0% | 232 | |
| CY 7 | J C-Wynn | |||||
| 5/30/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | ||
| White | 2354 | 47.3% | 2201 | 46.4% | 153 | |
| Black | 2261 | 45.4% | 2203 | 46.4% | 58 | |
| Hispanic | 102 | 2.0% | 96 | 2.0% | 6 | |
| Other | 262 | 5.3% | 243 | 5.1% | 19 | |
| Total | 4979 | 100.0% | 4743 | 100.0% | 236 | |
| Total | 5/30/20 | % | 5/30/19 | % | Change | |
| White | 29765 | 71.3% | 28676 | 71.5% | 1089 | 67.1% |
| Black | 8769 | 21.0% | 8554 | 21.3% | 215 | 13.2% |
| Hispanic | 866 | 2.1% | 806 | 2.0% | 60 | 3.7% |
| Other | 2350 | 5.6% | 2091 | 5.2% | 259 | 16.0% |
| Total | 41750 | 100.0% | 40127 | 100.0% | 1623 | 100.0% |
In reality, the total number of real city voters described on May 29 as 41,750 is almost certainly several thousand less. No one really checks. During my 2016 city council campaign, I estimated that at least 5% of the voters who were registered to vote at an address did not live at that address when I knocked on the door. In some cases, they had been gone for years. As recently as a few months ago, someone pre-filed to be a city council candidate having last year registered to vote at an address where they did not live. Under oath, they actually signed two documents proving they were not eligible to be a candidate. They have since dropped out of the race. In addition to the obvious voter fraud issue, fake city voters matter because citizen petition processes are based on a percentage of registered voters.
The two key numbers here are the low percentage of African-American voters in District 5 (43.6%) and District 7 (45.4%). This is largely the result of the racial gerrymandering done in 2011 by the city’s Districting Commission working closely and even directly during out-of-the-sunshine meetings with City Council members. One council member told me that the gerrymandering “had to be done” because they did not want to have to represent “the type of people” who lived in a specific neighborhood. Councilman Larry Johnson testified before the Districting Commission about what he called “the racial mix.” He said that, “the majority of my constituents are Caucasian or white.” The percentage of African-Americans in his District 4 was then reduced by 27% less than as recommended by Supervisor of Elections David Stafford whose non-gerrymandered district plan was rejected.
I learned about the gerrymandering that required the violation of three provisions in the city charter one of which Districting Commission member Diane Mack said they did not have to “honor” in mid-September 2011. I spoke with City Clerk Ericka Burnett a non-city resident who knew all about the gerrymandering but did not care. I complained about the gerrymandering to the City Council in writing in October 2011 before they voted 9-0 to do the dirty deed with even the two African-American Councilmen John Jerralds and Ron Townsend voting YES. I published a viewpoint in the PNJ about it in 2013. In 2014, I testified before the City Council expressing my concern about the racial gerrymandering. No one cared. In 2014 and 2015, I sent multiple e-mails to the late Councilman Gerald Wingate and Councilwoman Jewel Cannada-Wynn advising them as the percentage of African-American voters in their districts dropped well below 50%. They did not care.
As of September 30, 2011, a few days before the City Council approved the racial gerrymandering plan in October 2011, the percentage of African-American voters in District 5 was 53.2% and in District 7 was 55.7%. In January 2012, I raised this specific issue with the League of Woman Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area (I was then a member) during a meeting about “gerrymandering.” I was politely told that the group lacked the resources to look into gerrymandering in the city. A simple letter shaming the City Council would have been sufficient. If the next City Council seated in November has only one or no African-Americans on it, we have seven 2011 Districting Commission members, nine 2011 City Council members, City Clerk Burnett and City Attorney Jim Messer to blame. They did it to us.