Florida Governor Ron DeSantis unveiled a new congressional map on Monday, April 27th, which is expected to add 4 favorable seats for the Republican Party. If put into effect, this map will be used for the 2026 midterm elections.
DeSantis told Fox News Digital that since the 2020 census, Florida has not had fair representation. He mentioned that the state’s population growth and changes in the political landscape necessitated a reevaluation of district boundaries. Currently, there are approximately 1.5 million more Republican voters in Florida than Democratic voters. DeSantis criticized the current districting as unconstitutional, based on racial factors, and should not be used anymore.
“We are fulfilling my promise to redraw the districts between the two censuses in 2026, which can more fairly reflect Florida’s current population composition,” DeSantis said.
Currently, Florida’s congressional delegation consists of 20 Republicans and 7 Democrats. There is also one Democratic seat temporarily vacant after Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned.
The new map will include 24 districts favorable to Republicans and 4 leaning towards Democrats, effectively eliminating any Democratic districts in the Tampa Bay area.
Simultaneously, other states are also pushing for similar redistricting actions. In Virginia, voters recently passed a constitutional amendment allowing the state to redraw congressional districts, tilting several seats towards the Democratic Party. This initiative garnered support from Governor Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama.
Last week, slightly over half of Virginia voters approved the amendment. Projections indicate that the new map will have 10 Democratic-leaning seats and only 1 favoring Republicans. Currently, Democrats hold 6 seats in Virginia, while Republicans hold 5.
California has also taken a similar approach by temporarily allowing the majority-Democrat state legislature to redraw congressional district maps through Proposition 50. This move is aimed at countering Texas Republicans’ addition of 5 GOP-leaning districts in the state’s map.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) voiced opposition to DeSantis’ plan. If Democrats win a majority in the House in November, Jeffries is likely to become Speaker.
“If they insist on walking down the DeSantis dummymander route, Florida Republicans will find themselves in the same position as Texas Republicans; who are currently struggling to deal with it,” Jeffries said.
He emphasized, “Texas Republicans have no chance of gaining 5 seats. If they can add 2 to 3 seats, they’d be lucky. In California, we (Democrats) will sweep all 5 seats.”
During a press conference in Florida, DeSantis responded to Jeffries’ criticism.
“Feel free to come over, I can even pay for you to come to Florida to campaign for Democrats, I can arrange for you to stay at the Governor’s mansion, take you fishing,” DeSantis said.
He continued, “We can take care of all that. Because for Florida Republicans, there’s nothing they want more than to see Jeffries – Hakeem Jeffries – popping up all over Florida.”