Indian River County could be lumped into a radically redrawn 9th Congressional District by a redistricting plan released April 27 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Indian River County, now in the 8th Congressional District — which extends from St. Lucie County to from just north of Titusville — would move to a new district extending from Glades County on the south to Orange County and Orlando on the north, according to DeSantis’ proposed map.
St. Lucie and Martin counties, under DeSantis’ plan, would remain together in the 21st Congressional District, along with a small part of northern Palm Beach County.
Neither state Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach; nor state Rep. Robbie Brackett, R-Vero Beach, returned calls seeking comment.
Still, the reaction of one Democrat was shared by others around the state at the release of the map.
“The fact that the governor shared his illegally rigged congressional map with (Fox News) before sharing it with state senators voting on them tomorrow shows how partisan and illegitimate this process is,” state Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, posted on X.
The new map, if approved by the Legislature in a special session that starts April 28, could change Democratic districts to into Republican ones, helping Republicans maintain a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives following the November midterm elections.
State House and Senate committees are expected to review the proposal April 28 and hold a floor vote April 29.
President Trump previously urged Republican states to redraw Congressional districts before the mid-terms and some agreed. Texas redrew its, leading to more Republican seats in the U.S. House.
But California countered the changes in Texas, leading to additional seats for House Democrats. And Virginia recently voted to redraw its districts, which could give Democrats as many as four more House seats.
Florida is the last chance for Republicans to bolster their edge. Republicans currently have 217 seats to Democrats 212. Five seats are vacant and one is filled by an independent.
The governor has pointed to a faulty 2020 census as one reason to redraw Florida’s map. The state received one new district following the census and DeSantis thinks it should have been two. The districts also are now lopsided because the state’s population has grown by 2 million people since the census.
But rapid growth in the past did not lead to mid-decade redistricting. Nor is the governor seeking to redraw legislative lines.
Gray Rohrer of the New Service of Florida contributed to this report.
Keith Burbank is a watchdog reporter for TCPalm, usually covering Martin County. He can be reached at keith.burbank@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Radical plan would move Indian River into new congressional district
Reporting by Keith Burbank, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
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