DeSantis plots end run of Florida law to create more GOP House seats

• DeSantis called lawmakers to Tallahassee in light of the nationwide redistricting battle that began when President Trump pressured Republican-led states to create more GOP-leaning House seats.
• After Virginia Democrats got voter approval for a plan to create up to four more Democrat-leaning districts this week, DeSantis' effort in Florida became more urgent.
• If it fails, Trump's redistricting gambit could wind up being an advantage for Democrats.

Zoom in: Interviews with 14 Florida lawmakers, lawyers and redistricting experts reveal how DeSantis could get around Florida's constitution, which expressly bans lawmakers from drawing districts with "the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent."

• The key word: "intent." It's what opponents of DeSantis' strategy will need to prove in a trial court if, or when, the legislature passes his map.

DeSantis rejected lawmakers' calls to have an open process and draw the maps during the regular January lawmaking session.

• Instead, he's embarked on a plan to have his office redraw Florida's map, rush the plan through the legislature — and try to run out the clock on Democratic court challenges as the state gears up for the Nov. 3 elections.
• DeSantis' clock-management strategy is rooted in three factors:

1. The "Purcell Principle" — Named after a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court case, this generally limits lower courts from overturning election laws too close to an election to avoid voter confusion.

• Critics have long complained that Purcell rewards lawmakers who manipulate the clock with late-breaking redistricting changes.

2. The Apex Doctrine and executive privilege — Because his employees are drafting the maps, DeSantis' team is expected to argue in court that executive privilege shields them. His office argued that in a 2022 redistricting court challenge.

• In that case, top DeSantis officials involved in drafting those maps also fought to avoid depositions under the Apex Doctrine, which forces a plaintiff to first exhaust efforts to examine low-level employees before targeting high-level ones. That burns court time.

3. Secrecy — DeSantis' office is drafting the maps in such secrecy that plaintiffs could have trouble finding whom to depose and what records to look for. That would cause more delays.

• In 2022, DeSantis became the first Florida governor in recent history to submit his own congressional maps that were drafted out of the public eye. Normally, the maps are drawn by legislators, providing a record that court challengers could use draw from to prove intent.
• DeSantis' process is so clandestine that Florida legislators who are to vote on the new maps Tuesday hadn't seen them as of Thursday night.

Friction point: There's a risk in creating more Republican seats in Florida, which requires breaking up Democratic districts or diluting them. That can make surrounding GOP-held seats vulnerable as they get more Democratic voters.

• And as gas prices climb and Trump's poll numbers fall, Republicans could lose once-safe seats as Democrats and independents are added to a district.
• "It's yin-and-yang: To make blue seats more purple, you have to make red seats more purple," said one Florida legislative Republican.
• The possibility of a partisan gerrymander backfiring has spawned a nickname: "dummymander."

Nevertheless, national Republicans who aren't familiar with the vagaries of Florida's political geography hope DeSantis will somehow carve out about four new GOP-leaning seats.

Reality check: The state's U.S, House delegation now has 20 Republicans and eight Democrats. Making a workable map in which the GOP would have a 22-6 advantage is no guarantee, said a Republican consultant involved in the process.

• "The enemy gets a vote," the consultant said. "And in an environment like this, where independents are breaking hard against us and our people aren't showing up and Democrats are pissed, we could wind up losing a net number of seats."

Meanwhile, DeSantis could still lose in the courts if he gets his plan through the legislature. He did, however, appoint six of the seven members of Florida's Supreme Court.

• "DeSantis is doing this for partisan purposes and everybody knows it," said Ellen Frieden, a liberal activist who led the successful 2010 Fair Districts Florida campaign, in which about 63% of voters enshrined the anti-gerrymandering amendment in the state constitution.
• A Republican election-law attorney who once worked for DeSantis agreed: "This is about delivering more seats for the Republican Party."
• The attorney said the Purcell Principle might not benefit Republicans this time because the state already has new maps that were passed in 2022 as a result of the decennial census, which is the normal process. So judges could just reinstate the existing maps.
• A mid-cycle decade redistricting like this is without precedent.

What they're saying: A spokesperson for DeSantis did not return messages seeking comment. The governor has said he called for a special session on redistricting because of a pending U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning minority seats and because of changes in Florida's population.

• "Florida has experienced 10 years' worth of population growth in, like, three" years, DeSantis told the Florida Phoenix recently. "Our districts are not fairly apportioned."

For their part, many state legislators appear ready to rubber stamp DeSantis' maps, get out of Tallahassee ASAP and wash their hands of the matter as it inevitably heads to court.

• "If we get a map from the governor, we will vote it out and go home," one lawmaker said. "It's his map. We're not getting deposed. His people are."