Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida said on Monday that he plans to call a special legislative session early next year to redraw the state’s congressional map, a plan that would make Florida the latest addition to a growing number of Republican states drawing more favorable districts before the 2026 midterms.
“Yeah, so we’re going to redistrict,” DeSantis said in an exclusive interview with The Floridian.
DeSantis said the timing of Florida’s redistricting will depend on the results of a voting rights case before the Supreme Court. The case in question concerns the legality of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which has been interpreted as the enforcement mechanism for the 15th Amendment. The statute provides judicial relief if a constituent feels their right to vote is being infringed upon on the basis of race.
“The argument in October about Section 2 of the VRA, that impacts Florida’s maps, so we’re going to do it next spring,” DeSantis told the publication. “I am going to talk to [state Senate Majority Leader Ben Albritton] about when it makes sense to do it, but that will be done. I think we are going to be required to do it because of this court decision.”
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Florida state Senate Republicans hold a 26-11 advantage over Democrats, making passage of a new map more likely. Members of the minority party have blasted the redistricting threats as partisan gamemanship.
“We don’t have the numbers to stop this, but we haven’t seen what’s going to happen in the Senate yet and, interestingly, more and more we’re watching our state Senate become a backstop to guard against some of the more dangerous whims of the legislation that we see coming out from the House,” state House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell told News From the States.
The chair of the Republican Party of Florida, Evan Power, told a local NPR station in November that he expects Republicans to gain three to five House seats under the new redistricting proposal.
State House members formed an official redistricting committee in September, appointing eight Republicans and three Democrats to serve on the body responsible for exploring questions related to redistricting.
The lawmakers will meet Thursday for their first redistricting committee meeting.
Should Florida opt to redraw its map, the state would join a host of other states carrying out Trump’s demands to redraw congressional maps to favor the Republican Party.
So far Republicans have successfully drawn new district maps to favor the GOP in Texas, Missouri and North Carolina — though Texas’ redistricting attempt is also before the Supreme Court.
On the other side, voters in California recently passed a ballot proposal approving a new map drawn by the state’s Democratic-led state Legislature. Virginia Democrats have also passed the first phases of their proposed new maps.
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