Overview
- Lawmakers approved a mid-decade congressional map drawn by Gov. Ron DeSantis that was unveiled to Fox News before legislators and shifts Florida from 20 to 24 Republican-leaning districts.
- The governor’s counsel told senators the administration does not consider itself bound by the state’s Fair Districts Amendment, and the map-drawer said he used partisan data as the plan moved from release to a committee vote in about 24 hours.
- Democrats and voting-rights groups are preparing lawsuits that argue the map violates Florida’s constitutional ban on drawing districts to favor a party, and a few Republican legislators voted no, citing their oath to the constitution.
- Analysts say the lines could flip up to four U.S. House seats and put Democrats Darren Soto, Kathy Castor, Jared Moskowitz, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz at risk, while a new Miami-Dade seat remains strongly Democratic for Frederica Wilson.
- A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened Voting Rights Act protections cleared the way to dismantle a heavily Black south Florida district, and the Florida move follows a national push for partisan redraws encouraged by President Donald Trump.