Desantis Unveils New Gop-friendly Congressional Map On Eve Of Special Session

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Gov. Ron DeSantis gave state legislators a new congressional map Monday that would sharply alter the congressional districts of several incumbents and could result in Republicans picking up as many as four extra seats.

DeSantis gave the map to lawmakers only about 24 hours ahead of a special session during which the GOP-controlled Legislature is expected to approve the new lines and put them in place ahead of the 2026 midterms. Republicans already hold a 20-8 edge in the Sunshine State. The new map makes significant changes to the districts held by four Democrats: Reps. Kathy Castor, Lois Frankel, Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Florida is one of the final states moving ahead on mid-decade redistricting, a process kickstarted last year by President Donald Trump and the White House. Debate over the efforts has heated up in recent weeks after Virginia voters approved Democrats’ effort to gerrymander the state — and with the midterm elections looming to determine control of the House.

Unlike other states, Florida law prohibits redrawing congressional or state legislative maps for partisan gain or to help and hurt incumbents. Voters adopted the "Fair Districts" redistricting standards in 2010 and they were used to successfully challenge maps passed by the Legislature in 2012.

But a legal memo given to legislators by David Axelman, the general counsel for DeSantis, suggests that those provisions may no longer be valid due to a ruling from the state Supreme Court that upheld the current congressional map. DeSantis muscled through that map four years ago after he initially vetoed the one drawn up by the Legislature. That legal challenge focused on the governor's decision to dismantle a North Florida seat held by a Black Democrat.

Axelman argued that the "race-based requirements" of the "Fair Districts" amendment questioned by the state Supreme Court "cannot be severed from the other requirements" and were "sold to the voters as a package."

"And because one part is unconstitutional, there's little reason to think that voters would have removed the remaining parts by themselves," he wrote.

Axelman's memo says the new map eliminated any districts that had previously been drawn with minority voter protections. Districts in the Tampa Bay area and Orlando — which include Democratic incumbents — were also reshaped to account for “dramatic population changes,” although the map is still relying on 2020 U.S. Census data.

Democrats have maintained the redistricting effort is illegal and sharply criticized the DeSantis administration for their proposal

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried called it "wild" that DeSantis was instructing the Legislature to ignore the constitution. She maintained that Republicans were "playing with fire" because some safe Republican seats have been reconfigured in order to try to flip a handful of Democratic seats.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a post on X, also blasted the effort and said the new map violates both the state's redistricting standards as well as the 14th amendment. "See you in court," he said.

State House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said the map was "cynical swamp-like behavior" that was designed to help DeSantis if he runs for president again in 2028.

"It's entirely for himself and his political future," said the Tampa Democrat.