The Florida House approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ congressional map, sending a GOP-boosting redistricting plan to the state Senate.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida House on Wednesday approved Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposed congressional map, advancing a mid-decade redistricting plan designed to give Republicans as many as four additional U.S. House seats before the 2026 midterm elections.
The proposal now goes to the Florida Senate, where Republicans also hold a two-thirds majority. Some GOP resistance surfaced Tuesday in a Senate Rules Committee hearing, where three Republicans voted against the map and one Republican state senator pushed back publicly. But seven Republican defections would be needed to block the plan.
If enacted and upheld, the map could move Florida toward a 24-4 Republican advantage in its congressional delegation. The state is currently represented by 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with one Democratic-leaning seat vacant after Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned earlier this month.
The proposed lines would eliminate or shrink Democratic-leaning districts in Tampa, Orlando and parts of the southeast coast. Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz, Lois Frankel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Kathy Castor and Darren Soto would likely have to run in newly drawn districts, some of them more favorable to Republicans.
How many seats Republicans would actually gain remains uncertain. University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald, who has worked as a redistricting consultant, said before the House vote that he did not expect Republicans to win all four of the targeted districts. “Most generously, I would say maybe three districts because there’s one that’s highly competitive, if not Democratic — still Democratic-leaning on some measures,” McDonald said.
The vote came hours after the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed a section of the Voting Rights Act tied to majority-minority districts. At least one district DeSantis redrew is a majority-Hispanic district in Central Florida. The ruling adds to an already sharp legal fight over Florida’s own Fair Districts Amendment, a 2010 constitutional provision that bans partisan gerrymandering and includes protections for racial and language minorities.
DeSantis argued on social media that the Supreme Court decision undercut Florida constitutional provisions requiring race-conscious redistricting. In a letter to lawmakers, the governor’s general counsel, David Axelman, urged passage of the map and argued that complying with those provisions would amount to acknowledging that race shaped the lines.
Democrats have objected that the map violates the state constitution. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized the proposal earlier in the week, saying DeSantis was trying to push through a map that targets communities of color in South Florida and Central Florida and violates both the Florida Constitution and the 14th Amendment.
Any challenge would likely move quickly, but opponents face a difficult path before the Florida Supreme Court, where DeSantis appointed six of the seven current justices. The calendar also adds pressure: the special session in Tallahassee runs through Friday, May 1, and ballots for overseas and uniformed voters are scheduled to be mailed as soon as July 4 for the Aug. 18 primary.
The Senate is now the next test for the map. If it passes there, the fight is likely to shift from the Legislature to the courts over which congressional lines Florida voters will use in 2026.
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