U.S. Judge William Jung has ruled that race was not a predominant motive in the redistricting maps that Sarasota County Commission drew last November. The ruling rejects a lawsuit helmed by Palmer Ranch developer Hugh Culverhouse Jr. alleging that the commission's maps removed a significant number of black voters and a black candidate, former Sarasota mayor Fredd Atkins, from a district in which a seat is up for election in 2020. In his ruling, Jung added that there is no clear evidence that the county will be required to redistrict again in 2021 or that commissioners relied on flawed data to create the maps.