Florida Governor, Republican Ron DeSantis, revealed a new electoral map for the State this Monday, designed to give his party four additional seats in the United States Congress if approved by the state legislature, which he has convened starting tomorrow for a special session in Tallahassee. The Republican Party currently holds 20 of Florida’s 28 seats in the House of Representatives, and the new plan would further expand that advantage ahead of the November midterm elections.
Republicans control the state legislature with a supermajority in both the House and the Senate, allowing them to advance the proposal with little Democratic opposition. The new map presented by DeSantis eliminates or dilutes several Democratic-leaning districts in the central and southern parts of the State. However, some analysts point out that Florida’s initiative presents risks for Republicans by diluting voters in more competitive districts and compromising seats they currently hold securely.
The most affected areas would be Orlando, in the center of the peninsula, and South Florida —Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach. In the center, Democrat-controlled districts such as 9 (held by Darren Soto) and 10 (Maxwell Frost) would be fragmented and their voters redistributed. In the south, the proposed map would concentrate Democratic voters from districts 20 (vacant after Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation), 22 (Lois Frankel), 23 (Jared Moskowitz), 24 (Frederica Wilson), and 25 (Wasserman Schultz).
The initiative is part of a national offensive driven by President Donald Trump to secure Republican control of Congress —where they currently hold a lead of just a handful of members— through redistricting. This process is usually done every decade, based on the census taken every 10 years, but Trump has broken that convention, unleashing a race between parties to carve out the most seats through the manipulation of constituencies, a process known as gerrymandering. While Republicans try to maximize their advantage in states like Texas and now Florida, Democrats have responded with countermeasures in California and, last week, in Virginia.
Despite the openly partisan moves, DeSantis told Fox News on Monday that “Florida was disadvantaged in the 2020 U.S. Census, and since then we have been fighting for fair representation.” “Our population has grown significantly, and we have gone from a Democratic majority to a Republican advantage of 1.5 million. Drawing districts based on race, as occurs in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.” The new map, according to the governor, “more fairly represents Florida’s current composition.”
The governor refers to the so-called majority-minority districts, designed so that communities such as African Americans and Hispanics can elect candidates of their preference. The legal framework for these districts dates back to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, although it has been modified by subsequent court rulings. In one of the most recent, in 2023, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that, in certain cases, race remains a valid factor to ensure minority representation.
DeSantis was awaiting a Supreme Court ruling (Louisiana v. Callais), which could redefine the scope of federal law on majority-minority districts and further open the margin for Florida. That ruling has not yet occurred, but the governor is running out of time if he wants the map to take effect before the November elections.
In Florida, the debate dates back to 2010 state amendments known as Fair Districts, which prohibited partisan manipulation of districts. In 2022, DeSantis pushed for a new map that eliminated a district comprising several African American-majority communities in the north of the peninsula, considering it had been designed based on race, sparking a legal battle that is still being litigated in the courts.
Last week, Virginia voters approved an amendment to redraw districts that opened the door to a map that could favor Democrats. Virginia’s state legislature is controlled by a Democratic majority. Republicans sued, and the case is now on appeal before the state Supreme Court.
