TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Legislature approved a congressional redistricting plan which may violate the state constitution but meets Gov. Ron DeSantis’ goal of increasing Republican chances of gaining four new seats.
GOP supermajorities in the House and Senate advanced the new district boundaries April 29 over fierce Democratic opposition in the latest battle in a multi-state war over redistricting triggered by President Trump.
Moments before the House’s 83-28 vote, Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, strode the floor of the chamber, using a pink bullhorn to repeatedly shout that what ruling Republicans were doing defied the constitution’s Fair Districts amendments, which prohibit partisan gerrymandering.
“It is out of order,” she yelled.
While Nixon’s actions were over-the-top, they kept with a theme raised repeatedly by Democrats across hours of debate in the House and Senate.
“This is not how the process should work,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “It seems the political climate is so polarized that people have to cheat to win.”
Rep. Christine Hunchofsky, R-Parkland, said that Republicans “are putting individual power ahead of the people we serve.”
Some Republicans defect in Florida Senate
The Senate voted 21-17 to pass the map, although four Republicans broke ranks to vote ‘no.’
Republicans acknowledge the map relies on partisan data, which would violate the state constitutional standards put in place in 2010 by Florida voters.
But DeSantis and ruling Republicans are betting a court will overturn the state restrictions as conflicting with the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.
The state’s Fair Districts constitutional amendments prohibit lawmakers from deliberately drawing districts that help or hurt a party or incumbents. They also bar lawmakers from casting boundaries that would diminish a minority community’s ability to elect a representative of their choice.
But the Florida Supreme Court, in upholding the current congressional map approved in 2022, ruled last year that the racial safeguards included in Fair Districts conflict with the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection guarantees.
DeSantis argues that voter-approved amendments can be ignored
DeSantis now is arguing that decision nullifies all of the Fair Districts standards, including the one against partisan line-drawing. Most Republicans in the Legislature went along with the term-limited governor.
“I believe that we are following the law,” said Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes. “I believe these are legally supportable maps.”
Potential Fair Districts violations are certain to be part of any legal challenge Democrats bring against whatever emerges in a special session. U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York has already told Florida Republicans, “See you in court.”
The plan makes 24 of Florida’s 28 congressional districts likely to elect Republicans – possibly heightening the party’s chances of retaining its narrow control of the U.S. House in November’s midterm elections and stave-off a likely dilution of Trump’s influence in his final two years in the White House.
Most threatened by the DeSantis plan are seats held by Democratic U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor of Tampa, Darren Soto of Orlando, Jared Moskowitz of Parkland and a South Florida seat recently vacated by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who resigned amid an ethics investigation.
Other Democrats whose re-elections would be troubled by the changing boundaries include U.S. Reps. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston. Many Republican incumbents worry, though, about the redraw also weakening the party’s dominance in some districts.
First casualty of redraw? A Republican
Veteran Orlando GOP U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster announced April 28 that he would not seek re-election, becoming the 36th U.S. House Republican planning to leave their seats when their terms expire.
Florida currently has 20 Republican representatives in Congress. But the partisan leaning of the DeSantis map could result in Republicans – who represent 41% of Florida voters – controlling 86% of the state’s congressional districts.
Trump last year triggered a coast-to-coast clash among red and blue states over redistricting when he urged Republican-dominated states to redraw boundaries to help the GOP win more seats.
Seven states, beginning with Texas, have redrawn congressional boundaries in the battle, with Florida now responding by potentially handing the GOP a bounty of seats which could help Republican numbers in November.
“It’s all done in service to Donald Trump and not in service to the people of Florida,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell of Tampa.
Democrats in the Legislature railed against new map, which was crafted by a single staffer loyal to DeSantis, Jason Poreda, who acknowledged using partisan data. Republicans, though, said little to defend the map.
FOX News had red-blue shade map first – antagonizing Democrats
Further antagonizing to Democrats was that the map first appeared on FOX News – not on any Florida news site or on a legislative website. The 24 Republican-leaning districts were shaded in red, the four Democratic ones in blue.
No Republican joined in debate on the map in the House or Senate. But in questions put to them by Democrats, sponsors of the plans were unswerving.
“I believe that this map is based on a strong and viable interpretation of both the Florida and United States constitutions, and that is why I filed the map and I support it today,” said Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, who sponsored the redistricting legislation.
The Senate took up the DeSantis map after the House had already concluded the special session three days ahead of its scheduled, May 1 finish.
“The governor’s legal theory is that Fair Districts violates the federal constitution,” Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, told senators in defending the governor’s map he sponsored.
Still Gaetz acknowledged “I am not persuaded this map is necessarily beneficial to Republicans.”
Recasting congressional boundaries to make more Democratic-leaning seats competitive can only be done by weakening currently strong GOP districts. And depending on how voters respond, Republicans could lose seats with a redraw, a process dubbed a “dummymander.”
Louisiana ruling by SCOTUS adds to drama at Florida Capitol
Adding to the drama at the state Capitol was the release of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling which struck down a Louisiana congressional map, with the conservative majority finding that lawmakers illegally used race when drawing up a new majority-Black district.
While the majority insisted that they were upholding the Voting Rights Act, justices concluded that it only prevents lawmakers from drawing maps that would intentionally limit the power of minority voters.
Efforts to put more Black or Hispanic voters into districts to encourage the election of minority candidates are discouraged by the decision. Dissenting Justice Elaine Kagan wrote, “the court’s decision will set back the foundational right Congress granted of racial equality in electoral opportunity.”
The ruling is expected to be used by DeSantis to bolster the state’s case against the Fair Districts standards.
The governor was quick to post on X, “The SCOTUS ruling also invalidates…provisions of the FL Constitution requiring the use of race in redistricting.”
Democrats, though, say DeSantis and ruling Republicans are acting with little settled law on their side. Instead, the rush toward redistricting is pure power politics, said several.
“This is gerrymandering – illegal mapmaking designed to favor one party over another,” said Sen. Lavon Bracy Davis, D-Orlando. “This map doesn’t just tilt the scales, it shatters them.”
John Kennedy is a reporter in the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jkennedy2@gannett.com, or on X at @JKennedyReport.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Lawmakers back DeSantis map that could give GOP four more seats in D.C.
Reporting by John Kennedy, Capital Bureau | USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA / Tallahassee Democrat
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