Florida House panel approves new congressional district map

By David Beasley
The Center Square

Plans to redraw Florida’s congressional districts, which could give Republicans a gain of four seats as the midterm elections approach, has been approved by a committee in the House of Representatives.

The Legislature, called into a special session by second-term Republican Gov. Ron Desantis, could approve the redistricting plan on Wednesday. Its the latest domino movement from the 2025 request of second-term Republican President Donald Trump asking Texas Republicans to redraw their districts.

At stake: majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was 220-215 Republicans after the 2024 cycle; today it is 217-212 with one independent that was formerly Republican and five vacancies.

In Tuesday’s meeting of the Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting, critics called the redistricting effort gerrymandering, racist and illegal. They complained that the push for restricting was rushed, saying it is proof that it is directly related to the midterm elections.

A representative from the governor’s office said the maps were drawn without regard to race, but for “population equity” since the state’s population has grown dramatically in the last few years. His comments prompted laughter from the audience.

“This isn’t redistricting, it’s a power grab,” Mike Kirsten of Fernandina Beach told the committee. “If you could win on policy, you wouldn’t have to do this. Gerrymandering lets you pass laws people can’t vote against. This isn’t about protecting voters. It’s about protecting power. And that is not democracy ”

New maps are in play for the 2026 elections in California, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. Litigation has also led to changes in Utah and remains ongoing in Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana and New York.

Maryland’s bid died two weeks ago.

California has the potential to flip five seats to Democrats for a 48-4 representation for the party and Utah one to Democrats cutting into Republicans’ 4-0 representation. For Republicans, Missouri (to 7-1) and North Carolina (to 11-3) could gain one seat each; Ohio two (to 12-3); and Texas five (to 30-7).

DeSantis called the special session on redistricting to “reflect the population of our state and to comply with an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling.”

Critics said the governor was speculating that the U.S. The Supreme Court would uphold Louisiana’s redistricting plan, although that ruling has not yet been released.

The Florida redistricting plan could come up for a vote in the full House on Wednesday, House Speaker Daniel Perez said on Monday.