TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday released a proposed redraw of the state’s congressional lines that, on paper, would create four new GOP-leaning seats — an aggressive proposal that the governor is using to try to challenge anti-gerrymandering language in the state Constitution.
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The Florida Legislature is set to begin a special session Tuesday to consider the maps, which are overwhelmingly expected to pass out of the GOP-dominated body, though even some Republicans haveexpressed annoyanceabout how DeSantis has handled the process.
The map was first released to Fox News, which got a view of the new proposal before Florida lawmakers had a chance to see it. The release came in the form ofa graphicthat clearly outlined the political leaning of each seat in blue and red, which itself could cause legal heartburn because the Florida Constitution includes anti-gerrymandering language, known as Fair Districts, that prevents the use of partisan “intent.”
The current congressional maps, also drawn by DeSantis, give Republicans a 20-8 advantage over Democrats, a number that couldchange to 24-4 under the new DeSantis plan.
“This is wild,” said a Florida Republican consultant who has been involved in past redistricting cycles. “I don’t know how you can argue a red and blue map released from the governor’s office doesn’t show some form of partisan intent.”
Democratic stateSen. Carlos Guillermo Smith hinted that he believed the form of that early release alone will be enough to show there was partisan intent from the governor’s office.
“The fact that the Governor shared his illegally-rigged Congressional map with@FoxNewsbefore sharing it with state senators voting on them TOMORROW shows how partisan and illegitimate this process is,” hepostedon social media.
DeSantis’ office did not return a request seeking comment about the release. It issued a statement to Fox News saying the new maps are needed because the state got “shortchanged” during the 2020 census. DeSantis has repeatedly noted the state's population growth since 2020 in comments about mid-decade redistricting, too. In a memo to lawmakers urging they support the map, he contends Florida was undercounted by more than 760,000 people.
Because of Fair Districts, Florida Republicans have discussed the need to push forward with redistricting through the lens of the census data and population shifts, rather than focusing on pure political gain like politicians in mostother states that have redrawn their congressional maps over the pastyear.
Source: Drudge Report
