Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has proposed new congressional maps aimed at gaining up to four additional House seats for Republicans in the upcoming midterm elections. This plan will be debated in a special legislative session starting Tuesday.
Key points
Ron DeSantis proposed new congressional maps for Florida
The plan aims to gain up to four additional House seats for Republicans
Debate will occur in a special legislative session starting Tuesday
Supreme Court sided with Republicans in a Texas redistricting case
Virginia is also facing legal challenges over congressional maps
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Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, on Monday unveiled his proposal for redistricting his state’s congressional maps, a move he hopes will net his party up to four additional House seats in November’s midterm elections.
The long-awaited reveal, which will be debated during a special session of Florida’s legislature called by DeSantis beginning Tuesday, is the latest, and possibly final, act of a nationwide “gerrymandering” battle for control of Congress sparked by Donald Trump that looks increasingly to be moving back in Republicans’ favor.
The supreme court on Monday sided with Republicans in Texas by reinstating a redrawn electoral map that could flip up to five seats.
Meanwhile, Virginia, another state with potentially consequential implications for November’s election, is locked in a legal fight over Democrats’ efforts to seize four Republican-held seats.
Last week, a district court judge blocked a new map, approved just the day before in a referendum. Richmond circuit court judge Tracy Thorne-Begland then ruled against Republicans on Sunday, the Hill reported.
The Virginia case will ultimately be decided by the state’s supreme court, which was hearing arguments on Monday.
The Democrats’ biggest success came in California, where voters in November backed maps that could land them five additional seats. The supreme court ruled in February to reject a Republican challenge.
If approved by the Florida legislature’s Republican majority, DeSantis’s new maps will, subject to legal challenges, be adopted in time for the 2026 midterms. Currently, Republicans hold 20 House seats in the state to the Democrats’ seven, with one more vacant following last week’s resignation of Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for allegedly misusing federal disaster funds.
The DeSantis plan, he has asserted, was necessary to balance representation in several districts that have seen significant population changes. But it could leave Democrats with just four seats: one in central , and three in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach metropolitan region that has traditionally been the party’s stronghold.
Q&A
What is Ron DeSantis's plan for Florida's congressional maps?
Ron DeSantis has proposed redistricting Florida's congressional maps to potentially gain up to four additional House seats for Republicans.
When will the Florida legislature debate the redistricting proposal?
The Florida legislature will begin debating the redistricting proposal during a special session starting on Tuesday.
How does the Supreme Court's decision impact redistricting in Florida?
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Texas, which reinstated a redrawn electoral map, may influence the redistricting efforts in Florida by setting a precedent that could benefit Republicans.
What are the implications of the redistricting battle for the midterm elections?
The redistricting battle could significantly impact the balance of power in Congress by allowing Republicans to potentially flip additional seats in the upcoming midterm elections.
“Florida got short-changed in the 2020 census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,” DeSantis told Fox News, which first reported his proposal on Monday.
“Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage. Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.”
His support for Florida’s redistricting contrasted sharply with the response of Republicans over the Virginia referendum result. Trump called that vote “rigged”, and a travesty of justice, while Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, accused Democrats of a “dishonest gambit to try to rig the system”.
In Florida, however, Johnson was in favor of redistricting, telling Fox News that the state “has the right and the intention to do it. And my view is that they should.”
Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House minority leader, cautioned DeSantis last week that the move could work against him, urging the governor during a conversation with reporters in Washington DC to “F around and find out”.
In a statement, Jeffries added: “If Florida Republicans proceed with this illegal scheme, they will only create more prime pick-up opportunities for Democrats. We are prepared to take them all on, and we are prepared to win.”
DeSantis responded to Jeffries’ criticism at a press conference last week by inviting him to Florida to campaign for Democratic candidates.
“Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down,” he said, reported by the Hill. “I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing.”
His invitation sparked a further response from Jeffries, who announced the party would spend $20m in Florida on adverts targeting eight Republican incumbents seen as vulnerable in November.
The spending by the House Majority Pac is the first in Florida since 2020, the Miami Herald reported, and part of an early nationwide $272m investment.
The group’s communications director, CJ Warnke, said in a statement that Florida Republican members of Congress “are on notice” that Democrats would take their seats, and said DeSantis “will put even more Florida Republicans at risk” by pressing ahead with his redistricting plan.
Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic party, did not immediately comment on DeSantis’s proposal on Monday, but has previously called his push to redraw maps in Republicans’ favor as “unconstitutional gerrymandering”.
