Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he would convene a special session of the state legislature in April to reconsider the state’s congressional map, making the Republican-led state the latest to seek a redraw of its House district lines ahead of the midterm elections.
DeSantis said the special session would commence after the legislature’s regular session concludes. According to a news release, it will begin at noon on Monday, April 20, and “extend no later than 11:59 p.m., Friday, April 24.”
“Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” DeSantis said in a statement, adding that he wanted to “ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state and to comply with an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling.”
That Supreme Court case, Louisiana v. Callais, could result in the overturning of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which has led to more congressional districts where minority voters can support their preferred candidates. A ruling is expected before the end of the high court’s term in June.
Republicans dominate Florida’s current congressional delegation, holding 20 of the state’s 28 House seats under a map pushed by DeSantis himself in 2022. Once a major swing state, Florida has shifted strongly to the right in recent cycles, and some Republicans are eyeing gains of up to five seats under a new House map.
The push for mid-decade redistricting initiated by President Donald Trump and his allies to help House Republicans retain their majority this year — has reshaped the midterm battleground. Republican-led states that have redrawn their congressional maps so far include Texas, Missouri and North Carolina, while California Democrats responded to Texas’ move by approving friendlier congressional lines via a ballot measure.
Ohio and Utah also have new maps, though neither were drawn by their state legislatures.
Besides Florida, Democratic-led Virginia is also eyeing a redraw of its map this year.
Both parties have faced setbacks in their redistricting attempts. An effort to pass a more favorable map in Republican-led Indiana was rejected last month. Maryland Democrats have faced intraparty resistance in the state Senate to redrawing their map. And the Republican speaker in Kansas said earlier this week that his party did not have the votes in the state House to push through a new map over the anticipated veto of the state’s Democratic governor.
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