WASHINGTON  — If you closed your eyes at the U.S. Capitol, you might think you had suddenly been transported to the state Capitol in Tallahassee.  Democrats on Capitol Hill erupted in anger on Monday as details of a new Congressional district map for Florida finally became public, the latest exchange in an increasingly bitter national redistricting fight.

“It is blatantly unconstitutional,” U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said of the new Florida map, as Democrats vowed a series of court challenges.  “If Ron DeSantis wants a different map, he should do what Democrats did in California and Virginia, take it to the voters,” Jeffries told reporters.  “Ron’s problem is he’s afraid of that, so he’s going to try to bully the legislature.”

Two Democrats seeking the seat of GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar echoed those attacks:

“Corrupt politicians like Maria Elvira Salazar and her party bosses are hyper focused on rigging the election by changing the districts in a sham process,” said Robin Peguero in a statement. Eliott Rodriguez, who is also hoping to be the Democratic nominee, said Salazar’s “total inaction on doing anything to bring relief to the out of control cost of living facing families here in Florida’s 27th is why this district is competitive, no matter how it’s drawn.” 

State lawmakers in both parties were busy trying to figure out the exact impact of the new map on their own districts. The biggest outcry came from Democrats, as the map would chop their current eight favorable districts in the Democratic column down to just four, three of them in South Florida.

One thing’s for sure: Key Biscayne won’t have a say in the state House on any redistricting plan, because House District 113 remains vacant. DeSantis didn’t call a special election when former Rep. Vicki Lopez left her seat to take a spot on the Miami-Dade County Commission.

“This map is an absolutely unlawful violation of the Florida Constitution,” said U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Florida, who represents a district in the Orlando area.  “The Legislature should reject it. The courts should strike it down.”

South Florida Republicans in Congress had said little in recent days about the new map.

“I think I would have left the lines the way they were,” said U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Miami. “But if the Governor of the state of Florida and the legislature believes differently, who am I to say?”

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Pressed by reporters, Salazar refused to criticize DeSantis or President Trump over the GOP efforts to change Congressional maps in Texas and other states – all in a bid to defeat more Democrats in November.

“I like my district, I think I’m doing well,” Salazar said just off the U.S. House floor.  “It is what it is.  You don’t control it – you don’t worry about it.”

Also saying very little about redistricting in Tallahassee was U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Miami.

“I am not going to talk about redistricting,” Gimenez said several times to reporters. “I’m just going to be safe on this one.”

Other Florida Republicans said they welcomed any effort to squeeze out more GOP seats in Congress, as they mocked Democrats for claiming that a new district map might make Republicans more vulnerable in November.

“Y’all can’t even win Florida,” U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Gainesville, tweeted at Democrats.

But Democrats have been on the offensive after winning a redistricting vote last week in Virginia, which could allow them to flip four GOP-held seats in that state.

Democrats say if Republicans change the district lines to win more GOP seats in Florida, it might actually be easier for them to defeat a series of incumbents.

“We will aggressively target for defeat Mario Díaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, Kat Cammack, Anna Paulina Luna, Laurel Lee, Cory Mills and Brian Mast,” Jeffries vowed.

The main political action committee for U.S. House Democrats announced last week that it would spend up to $20 million on Congressional races in Florida.

“We’re on offense,” said Jeffries, the top Democrat in the U.S. House.  “That’s our Democratic gift to Ron DeSantis and the Florida Republicans who he is putting in jeopardy.”

Jamie Dupree

Jamie Dupree is a veteran Congressional reporter based in Washington, D.C. He has written for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution,and is the author of Regular Order,a newsletter about the inner workings of the U.S. House and Senate.