The Florida House and Senate could vote on a proposal as soon as Wednesday that would expand Florida Republicans’ advantage in Congress.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After 46 days away from the Capitol, Florida lawmakers are back in a special session focused on redrawing the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

The session began Tuesday at the state’s capitol and could run until Friday, but some lawmakers suggested a vote could happen as quickly as Wednesday.

At the center of the debate is a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis that Republicans say could flip four Democratic-held seats and expand the GOP’s advantage in Florida’s congressional delegation to 24-4.

The newly released map, dropped by the governor’s office Monday, targets four districts currently represented by Democrats: two in South Florida in the Miami-area, one in the Orlando area and one in the Tampa Bay region, currently held by Rep. Kathy Castor.

Republicans argue the mid-decade redraw is necessary to reflect population growth and aims to eliminate what they describe as “race-based districts.”

Critics of the effort, including those who protested outside the capitol Tuesday morning, call it illegal, pointing to the Fair Districts Amendment of Florida’s constitution that prohibits redistricting “with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party.” The amendment also prohibits redistricting from undercutting minority voting groups.

“They want to rig maps so that they can pick their voters instead of voters picking their politicians,” said Genesis Robinson of Equal Ground during the protest Tuesday.

An attorney representing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office responded to those claims today, arguing the Fair Districts Act doesn’t need to be followed and violates the U.S. Constitution itself.

“My legal analysis that I laid out is that you do not need to take it into account,” said attorney Mo Jazil, who was speaking on behalf of the governor Tuesday. “The governor’s position on the issue is this: we should not use race at all when drawing districts. … The rest of Article 3 Section 20 cannot be saved. That is because the provisions are inseparable from one another.”

House Speaker Daniel Perez also pushed back on accusations of partisanship, despite the map being released in a color-coded format by party.

“I know that would be the easy headline… that is not the position that we’re in,” Perez said.

Perez said the House plans to debate and vote on the map Wednesday morning after a House committee advanced the proposal Tuesday. He also added that the other two issues — AI safeguards and vaccine mandates — that were supposed to be discussed alongside redistricting won’t be taken up by the House this special session, effectively killing them in his opening statements. 

A Senate committee also passed the map, though a timeline for a full Senate vote remains unclear.