There are many similarities between Map 1A (formerly Auffant-1 and Map 1) and Map 7B (formerly Henry-2A and Map 7A). The maps were both amended to move the Woodlands of Windermere and Woodlands Village neighborhoods into District 1, which updated their names.  

Both alter the makeup of districts 6, 3 and 4 while leaving West Orange County communities intact in their original districts — despite a very strong lobbying effort to split Horizon West from the older municipalities to its north.

Both maps only split one municipality: Orlando. Map 7B splits one community of interest, Holden Lakes, and 20 voting precincts. Map 1A doesn’t split any communities of interest and just 13 voting precincts. The Supervisor of Elections had requested that mapmakers not split voting precincts to avoid the costs of reprinting voting cards.

Both maps also retain incumbent county commissioners in their respective districts and establish the new District 7 as a Black plurality district and the new District 8 as a Hispanic plurality district. 

In a plurality district, a specific demographic falls just under the majority but could influence an election, aided by crossover votes from other demographics. A plurality district is different from a majority-minority district, where that demographic’s voting population would be more than 50 percent and likely control an election’s outcome.

As the committee's efforts wound down, co-chair Tico Perez noted that the most “exciting part” of the redistricting process had been seeing the “tremendous” amount of  comment from the public. 

“Over 300 people [during the entire process] came out,” Perez said. “I know we all appreciated that input because we didn't know any better than anybody when this started, so I am thrilled that we had so much public comment. I'm thrilled with the results that we came out with.”

Committee member James Auffant said Map 1A, which he submitted and the first the committee accepted, was one that ultimately came from residents. 

“The community came to us — a lot,” Auffant said. “They told us what they wanted. We listened.” 

Committee member Jason Henry echoed those sentiments, emphasizing that while he “did have something” to do with Map 7B as its sponsor, its creation was also one rooted in the efforts of the local community. 

“That was really important,” Henry said. “I think this just shows how government is supposed to work, right? You have volunteers on board, they come together, they listen to the community and then they put the product forward.”