Florida GOP Passes Gerrymandered Map to Cement DeSantis’ Grip on Congress

In a brazen power grab, Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature approved a new congressional map on Wednesday that could hand the GOP up to four additional House seats this November. The state Senate passed the map 21-17, shortly after the state House pushed it through 83-28 during a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The governor is expected to sign the map into law imminently.

This map is no accident. It was drawn in secret, rushed through on a tight timeline, and openly designed to favor Republicans. According to Inside Elections, the GOP would be favored in 24 of Florida’s 28 districts under the new lines, up from the 20 they currently hold. Crucially, the map targets vulnerable Democrats including Reps. Kathy Castor and Darren Soto, as well as Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz in South Florida.

“This bill is not redistricting reform. It’s a partisan map drawn in secret, on demand from Washington, and shoved through this chamber on a clock designed to keep the public out of the room,” said state House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell during debate.

The timing of the map’s approval is telling. It came the same day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Louisiana’s congressional map for violating the Constitution by forcing a second Black-majority district. DeSantis claimed he anticipated that ruling and tailored Florida’s map accordingly. His general counsel, David Axelman, argued that Florida’s compliance with the state’s Fair District Amendments — which prohibit maps drawn with partisan intent — would be “extraordinarily onerous” to prove and essentially impossible.

Despite claims from DeSantis aides that the map is “race neutral,” internal acknowledgments reveal partisan data was considered in drawing the lines. This contradiction lays bare the cynical manipulation at play.

Florida now joins a growing list of Republican-led states like Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina that have redrawn maps to entrench GOP power ahead of the midterms. Democrats have fought back with voter-approved maps in Virginia and California designed to gain ground, but the battle over fair representation is far from over.

Florida Democrats have vowed to challenge the map in court, arguing it violates the state constitution’s anti-partisan gerrymandering provisions. Given the secretive process, the blatant targeting of Democratic incumbents, and the Supreme Court’s recent decisions, this legal fight promises to be a critical test of whether any limits remain on blatant partisan redistricting.

For now, Florida Republicans are doubling down on a map designed to lock in their advantage and silence Democratic voters. It is another stark example of how the GOP is weaponizing redistricting to undermine democracy and rig elections in their favor. We will be watching closely as this fight unfolds.