Ron DeSantis enters the chat: governor eyes chance to redraw Florida maps

Ron DeSantis, whose term ends in January 2027, at a news conference in Tampa in July. Photograph: Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma/Shutterstock

With Gavin Newsom and Greg Abbott, the respective heavyweight governors of California and Texas, trading blows over plans to gerrymander the 2026 midterms, it was always kind of inevitable that Florida’s Ron DeSantis would enter the chat.

The Republican sees his state, the nation’s third-largest by several metrics, not least its 28 congressional seats, as pivotal in the redistricting wars for control of the House.