Florida’s ruling Republican lawmakers will convene a special session April 28 to redraw the state’s 28 congressional districts and increase the odds of the GOP winning four additional seats in the midterm elections.
Republicans currently hold 20 of Florida’s 28 U.S. House seats. The redrawn map could boost that number to 24.
The move comes a week after Virginia voters approved a redistricting overhaul that favors Democrats. A Republican challenge to block the new House map will go before the Virginia Supreme Court this week. Several other states have adopted new congressional district maps ahead of the midterms, including Texas, California, Missouri and North Carolina.
A new Florida map is likely to draw challenges, especially considering the state’s Fair Districts constitutional amendments prohibit lawmakers from deliberately drawing districts that help or hurt a party or incumbents.
The proposed redistricting map was released by the Florida Senate and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office on April 27.
Here’s a look at the proposed Florida redistricting map:
What is redistricting?
Redistricting refers to the redrawing of U.S. congressional districts in a state.
Redistricting usually happens every 10 years following the U.S. Census.
The Census is used to determine how many congressional representatives each state gets of the total 435. If your state grows in population, you get more representatives. If it shrinks, you lose representatives. It’s then up to the states to redistrict.
What is gerrymandering?
Gerrymandering is the deliberate process of redrawing lines to sway electoral outcomes in favor of a certain political party.
Florida congressional map now
Florida’s current congressional map, signed into law April 22, 2022.
Florida redistricting map proposal
Proposed Florida redistricting map by party
Contributing: Jessica Estepa, USA TODAY
Kim Luciani is a journalist for the USA TODAY Network-Florida’s Audience team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://tallahassee.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: See proposed Florida redistricting map. Special session starts Tuesday
Reporting by Kim Luciani and John Kennedy, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Tallahassee Democrat
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