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| Ozzy Trevino/CBP Photography/Wikimedia Commons |
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation on Monday that redistricts the state’s congressional map to be more favorable to Republicans.
“Signed, Sealed, and Delivered,” the governor announced on X with an attached photo of the new map.
According to Florida Politics, the new map — which takes effect immediately — could potentially net Republicans an additional four seats during the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Under the now-former map, Republicans hold 20 U.S. House seats, while Democrats hold eight.
The new map “leaves four Democratic U.S. Representatives in Florida — U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz — with districts that now lean Republican based on the last presidential election results,” according to the outlet.
The Florida House (83-28) and Senate (21-17) passed the new map last Wednesday.
DeSantis first announced plans in January to call the state legislature into an April special session to partake in mid-decade redistricting. The goal, according to the governor, was “to ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state and to comply with an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling.”
The ruling in question was handed down by the high court last week amid the legislature’s consideration of DeSantis’ proposed map. Known as Louisiana v. Callais, the 6-3 decision by Justice Samuel Alito kneecapped states’ ability to use race in the redistricting process, a seemingly unlawful policy long favored by Democrats to maintain majority-minority districts that favor their party.
“Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 … was designed to enforce the Constitution — not collide with it. Unfortunately, lower courts have sometimes applied this Court’s §2 precedents in a way that forces States to engage in the very race-based discrimination that the Constitution forbids,” Alito wrote. --->READ MORE HERE
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a new congressional map into effect that could set the stage for Republicans flipping four House seats in the Sunshine State in November.
The move came in the wake of a US Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act that freed up red states to gerrymander more aggressively and against the backdrop of a redistricting race across the country.
“Signed, Sealed, and Delivered,” DeSantis declared on X in a victory-lap post.
Republicans have 20 of the 28 House seats in Florida. The new map creates conditions that Republicans believe are favorable to turn the numbers into a 24 to 4 split for them.
Florida is now the fourth red state this cycle to engage in rare, mid-decade redistricting, following Texas, North Carolina and Missouri.
California approved a referendum last year to effectively neutralize Texas’ redistricting.
Republicans and Democrats had largely been seen as close to even in the redistricting wars — until a Virginia referendum last month.
The fresh Democrat-favored map in Virginia could set the stage for them to flip four seats there, but that map is subject to litigation and hasn’t yet taken effect.
DeSantis has argued that aggressive redistricting in Florida is warranted because the Biden administration played games with the Census and cheated the state of at least one more seat. --->READ MORE HERE
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