During a news conference on Wednesday in Steinhatchee, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he plans to hold a special session of the Legislature focused on redistricting Florida’s congressional maps in advance of what’s expected to be a contentious midterm election, with control of Congress on the line. DeSantis later made it official, signing a proclamation setting the dates for the session between April 20 and 24. The governor did so, even though the regular session of the Legislature begins next week, Jan. 13, and runs through March 13. DeSantis said he delayed the special session until April to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to rule on a Louisiana case that could affect the drawing of districts across the country.DeSantis said his goal is to ensure the maps accurately reflect the population of Florida. House Speaker Daniel Perez formed a redistricting committee last fall. The committee has had two meetings thus far. Perez, who frequently disagrees with the governor, had already indicated he wants to tackle the redrawing of congressional maps in the middle of the decade, something Democrats argue is unconstitutional, but Perez wanted to do that during the regular session. Lawmakers may still try to do that. As for the special session, the governor can call lawmakers back to the Capitol, but he can’t make them review or vote on bills. DeSantis said today, his concern over racial gerrymandering is motivating him to get new maps done now and not wait for the 2030 census. DeSantis also said he believes the high court’s ruling could affect two or more Florida Congressional seats. The governor added, “Our population has changed so much in the last four or five years, so we need to be apportioned properly, and people deserve equal representation, so we look forward to working with the Legislature to get that across the finish line.” Democrats fear it could affect five or more seats, including the local seats of Congressmen Maxwell Frost and Darren Soto. Orlando Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani told WESH 2, “We should have a system that respects the decades-old timeline and not engage in mid-decade redistricting, which we don’t have Constitutional standing for, and would be unprecedented in Florida’s history.” Section 2A of the Voting Rights Act says, “No voting … standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied … in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” The provision that maps cannot be drawn to benefit one political party would still be in effect. In fact, there are currently legal challenges to the Congressional maps drawn by Gov. DeSantis in 2022. In response to DeSantis’ announcement, Fentrice Driskell, House minority leader for the Florida House Democrats for the 2024-2026 term, issued the following statement:”No matter what DeSantis says, this is an illegal partisan gerrymander happening because Donald Trump asked for it. Trump wants to rig the midterm elections to prevent the American people from holding his administration accountable. The Fair Districts Amendment to the Florida Constitution outlaws drawing maps to benefit one party over another, and that’s exactly what Trump has asked the Legislature to do.”People should pick their politicians; politicians should not pick their people. Florida’s government should not be rigging elections. That’s what they do in places like Cuba & Venezuela, not America. This is the cynical, swamp-like behavior that makes people hate politics. Florida doesn’t have to do this. Period. The Sunshine State has seen population growth for at least a century, and it has never caused us to redraw the maps in the middle of the decade before, so I don’t accept DeSantis’ suggestion that we need it now.”The special session is set to take place after the regular legislative session in April.

STEINHATCHEE, Fla. —

During a news conference on Wednesday in Steinhatchee, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he plans to hold a special session of the Legislature focused on redistricting Florida’s congressional maps in advance of what’s expected to be a contentious midterm election, with control of Congress on the line.

DeSantis later made it official, signing a proclamation setting the dates for the session between April 20 and 24.

The governor did so, even though the regular session of the Legislature begins next week, Jan. 13, and runs through March 13.

DeSantis said he delayed the special session until April to give the U.S. Supreme Court time to rule on a Louisiana case that could affect the drawing of districts across the country.

DeSantis said his goal is to ensure the maps accurately reflect the population of Florida.

House Speaker Daniel Perez formed a redistricting committee last fall. The committee has had two meetings thus far.

Perez, who frequently disagrees with the governor, had already indicated he wants to tackle the redrawing of congressional maps in the middle of the decade, something Democrats argue is unconstitutional, but Perez wanted to do that during the regular session.

Lawmakers may still try to do that.

As for the special session, the governor can call lawmakers back to the Capitol, but he can’t make them review or vote on bills.

DeSantis said today, his concern over racial gerrymandering is motivating him to get new maps done now and not wait for the 2030 census.

DeSantis also said he believes the high court’s ruling could affect two or more Florida Congressional seats.

The governor added, “Our population has changed so much in the last four or five years, so we need to be apportioned properly, and people deserve equal representation, so we look forward to working with the Legislature to get that across the finish line.”

Democrats fear it could affect five or more seats, including the local seats of Congressmen Maxwell Frost and Darren Soto.

Orlando Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani told WESH 2, “We should have a system that respects the decades-old timeline and not engage in mid-decade redistricting, which we don’t have Constitutional standing for, and would be unprecedented in Florida’s history.”

Section 2A of the Voting Rights Act says, “No voting … standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied … in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.”

The provision that maps cannot be drawn to benefit one political party would still be in effect. In fact, there are currently legal challenges to the Congressional maps drawn by Gov. DeSantis in 2022.

In response to DeSantis’ announcement, Fentrice Driskell, House minority leader for the Florida House Democrats for the 2024-2026 term, issued the following statement:

“No matter what DeSantis says, this is an illegal partisan gerrymander happening because Donald Trump asked for it. Trump wants to rig the midterm elections to prevent the American people from holding his administration accountable. The Fair Districts Amendment to the Florida Constitution outlaws drawing maps to benefit one party over another, and that’s exactly what Trump has asked the Legislature to do.

“People should pick their politicians; politicians should not pick their people. Florida’s government should not be rigging elections. That’s what they do in places like Cuba & Venezuela, not America. This is the cynical, swamp-like behavior that makes people hate politics. Florida doesn’t have to do this. Period. The Sunshine State has seen population growth for at least a century, and it has never caused us to redraw the maps in the middle of the decade before, so I don’t accept DeSantis’ suggestion that we need it now.”

The special session is set to take place after the regular legislative session in April.

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Today, I announced that I will be convening a Special Session of the Legislature focused on redistricting to ensure that Florida’s congressional maps accurately reflect the population of our state. Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally.…

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) January 7, 2026