Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled on April 27 a new congressional map of the Sunshine State that would add four districts favorable for Republicans.
DeSantis told Fox News Digital that Florida has not received fair representation since the 2020 Census and said the state’s population growth and political shift justify revisiting district boundaries. He noted that Republicans now outnumber Democrats in the state by about 1.5 million voters. He also criticized the current district lines, saying maps drawn with racial considerations are unconstitutional and should not be used.
"Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today," he said.At present, Florida’s congressional delegation includes 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with one Democratic seat vacant following the resignation of former Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.).
The new map, which would include 24 GOP-leaning seats and four Democratic-leaning seats, would leave Tampa Bay without any Democratic districts.
The proposal comes amid similar redistricting efforts in other states.
In Virginia, voters recently approved a constitutional amendment allowing the state to redraw its congressional districts, a move expected to shift several seats toward Democrats. The plan received support from figures such as Gov. Abigail Spanberger and former President Barack Obama.
Just more than half of Virginia voters approved the amendment last week. Projections show 10 seats favorable to Democrats and just one for a Republican. Currently, Democrats hold six seats in Virginia while Republicans have five.California implemented a similar strategy with the passage of Prop 50, which temporarily allows the state's Democratic-leaning legislature to draw new congressional maps. This was in response to Republicans in Texas adding five congressional districts to their congressional map to favor their party.
DeSantis faced opposition from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who will most likely be speaker of the House if Democrats win a majority in November.
"If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummymander, the Florida Republicans are gonna find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now," Jeffries said.
"Under no circumstances are Texas Republicans picking up five seats. They'll be fortunate if they get two or three. While in California, we are going to get all five."
During a press conference in Florida, DeSantis fired back at Jeffries.
"Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign. I’ll put you up in the Florida governor’s mansion. We will take you fishing," he said.
"We’ll do all this stuff. There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, everywhere around this state."