DeSantis unveils gerrymandered Florida map as redistricting war rages
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Florida's new proposed congressional map, provided by Gov. Ron DeSantis' office.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' office came close to admitting he wanted state lawmakers to intentionally create new Republican congressional seats by sending reporters a new House map that color-coded districts by party.
Why it matters: Florida's constitution expressly bans intentionally drawing maps to benefit either party, but President Trump has pushed red states to redraw their districts to improve Republicans' chance of holding Congress in November.
- The map showed four blue districts for Democrats and 24 red for Republicans, up from 20 Republicans in Florida's current delegation.
- DeSantis has signaled he has a three-step plan for his maps survive court challenges, at least in the short term, by playing for time, Axios reported last week.
- Democratic and liberal groups already plan to sue the moment the maps are passed.
Driving the news: The Florida legislature will convene a special session Tuesday to consider the proposed map, which was first reported by Fox News Digital
- DeSantis has claimed redistricting is necessary to reflect Florida's changing population, citing his grievances with how many seats his state received following the 2020 census. Under his map, Florida will continue to have 28 seats. Redistricting just moves the lines between them.
- DeSantis also said he expects the Supreme Court to rule to rule that drawing districts based on race violates the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment.
What they're saying: Nick Stephanopoulos, a Harvard law professor and the director of strategy of the school's Election Law Clinic, told Axios ahead of the map's release that "it seems completely obvious … that any redrawing of Florida's maps right now would have a partisan intent," which is barred by the state's Fair District Amendments.
- But he's skeptical the Fair Districts Amendments would "have any teeth," given the way the state Supreme Court has already chipped away at it in upholding the current map. On top of that, six of the seven members of that court were tapped by DeSantis himself.
Normally, redistricting maps have a broad array of colors that clearly delineate district boundaries.
- Florida legislators historically avoided maps with just red and blue district colors to avoid the appearance of partisan gerrymandering.
Friction point: Analysts have said redistricting Florida could be a gamble that risks diluting GOP dominance in districts held by Republicans. That's left sitting House members sweating.
- Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-Fla.) has been warning about slipping GOP support among Latinos, a critical voting bloc in Florida that swung toward Trump in 2024.
- "I like my lines," Salazar, who represents a heavily Latino district that includes parts of Miami, told Axios' Kate Santaliz when asked if she supported the redistricting push in her state.
- But DeSantis has a chilly relationship with the state's congressional Republicans, who supported Trump over the governor the 2024 GOP primary.
Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
