Editing Reubin Askew (section)

==Legislative career==
[[File:State Sen Reubin Askew.jpg|thumb|Askew as a [[Florida Senate|Florida state senator]] in April 1968]]
In 1956, Askew was elected Assistant County Solicitor of [[Escambia County, Florida]], as a Democrat. In 1958, he was elected to the Florida House of Representatives, representing Escambia County. After serving two terms in the House, in 1962 Askew was elected to the [[Florida Senate]] from the 2nd district, also representing Escambia<ref name=":0" /> defeating Philip D. Beall in the primary election.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Tom |url=https://archive.org/details/TabulationofofficialvoteFloridaprimaryelections1962/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Tabulation of official vote. Florida primary elections : Democratic and Republican (1962) |publisher=Florida Secretary of State |year=1962 |pages=6 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> He was reelected to a [[Redistricting|redistricted]] seat encompassing both Escambia and [[Santa Rosa County, Florida|Santa Rosa counties]] in 1966, and again in 1967 and 1968<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://archive.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl?Tab=info_center&Submenu=8&Mode=Information%20Center&File=index.cfm&Directory=Info_Center/Archive/historical&Location=app|title=Historical Senate Journals & Rules|website=Florida Senate Archive|access-date=June 19, 2016|archive-date=May 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509203717/http://archive.flsenate.gov/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl?Tab=info_center&Submenu=8&Mode=Information|url-status=dead}}</ref> being unopposed in 1968.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Adams |first=Tom |url=https://archive.org/details/TabulationofofficialvoteFloridaprimaryelections1968/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Tabulation of official vote. Florida primary elections : Democratic and Republican (1968) |publisher=Florida Secretary of State |year=1968 |pages=2 & 3 (as numbered in the source document) |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

From 1969 to 1970, he served as president ''pro tempore'' of the Senate.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.floridamemory.com/fmp/territorial-legislative/PeopleOfLawmaking.pdf |title=The People of Lawmaking in Florida 1822 - 2019 |date=February 1, 2019 |publisher=[[Florida House of Representatives]] |editor-last=Takacs |editor-first=Jeff |access-date=September 5, 2022}}</ref> In 1971 he received the Legion of Honor from the [[DeMolay International|International Supreme Council of the Order of DeMolay]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reubin O'Donovan Askew |url=https://demolay.org/project/walter-red-barber-copy/ |access-date=2025-01-04 |website=DeMolay International |language=en-US}}</ref>

Askew emerged as a [[Progressivism|progressive]] lawmaker: he supported reapportionment in the state legislature in order to recognize changes in population distribution and increase representation for urban counties, which had a higher population than rural ones. The state houses had been apportioned by geographic county, resulting in inequities that did not represent current state conditions. Urban areas were underrepresented in the legislature. As was typical of many states, rural legislators had resisted reapportionment in order to retain power.<ref name="top50">{{Cite web |date=2003-09-15 |title=Reubin Askew - Top 50 Most Important Floridians of the 20th Century |url=http://www.theledger.com/static/top50/pages/askew.html |access-date=2022-09-16 |website=archive.ph |archive-date=September 15, 2003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20030915152226/http://www.theledger.com/static/top50/pages/askew.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Askew opposed legal [[racial segregation]] and the continuing disenfranchisement of black voters. They had been [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era (United States)|disenfranchised]] since the turn of the century, when Florida had passed a new constitution with provisions for voter registration and elections that effectively blocked blacks from the polls. Passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] authorized the federal government to exercise oversight over jurisdictions in which classes of voters were historically underrepresented in voter rolls and voting patterns; African Americans were helped to re-enter the political system.