The fresh cartography could net Republicans as many as 4 U.S. House seats.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the new congressional map passed by Florida’s Legislature. The cartography goes into effect immediately, but likely will draw an immediate court challenge.
Under the new political lines, Republicans could net an additional four seats. Under the prior map, Florida voters elected 20 Republicans and eight Democrats to the U.S. House. But the new map has just four seats where a majority voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 Presidential Election and 24 districts carried by Donald Trump.
The net four-seat gain for House Republicans could offset gains for Democrats in Virginia based on approval of a redistricting plan in that state.
The Governor’s Office drafted the map over the course of two weeks ahead of a Special Session of the Legislature. DeSantis has maintained that the new cartography was drawn in a “race-neutral” fashion in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling weakening the Voting Rights Act. That ruling ended up being handed down as the Florida House and Senate debated the measure of the floor.
Notably, two Black majority seats, Florida’s 20th and 24th Congressional Districts, were drawn in a fashion that leaves a plurality of the voting age population in each district as Black. However, the Hispanic population in Florida’s 9th Congressional District was carved into five districts, eliminating a district critics argue should still be protected by the Voting Rights Act.
Ultimately, the map leaves four Democratic U.S. Representatives in Florida — U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor, Jared Moskowitz, Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz — with districts that now lean Republican based on the last presidential election results.
The new cartography has already sent candidates for office scrambling to lay stake in new districts.
On top of that, four Republican members of the congressional delegation — U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn and Daniel Webster — have announced they will not seek re-election. The redistricting also impacts the lines in most of those open seats.
Partisan leans on new map. Image via Dave’s Redistricting.
