The Florida House has announced what would be the first step in a highly anticipated mid-decade congressional redistricting effort.
A House schedule shows the Congressional Redistricting Select Committee will hold its first meeting on Dec. 4 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. But it’s unclear what the meeting will entail. A full notice and any agenda remain unavailable, and some members of the committee were surprised to see the meeting on the schedule.
The move came just a week after House Speaker Daniel Perez told POLITICO at the Lincoln Day Dinner in Miami that “redistricting hasn’t been a conversation that we’ve had yet.” Gov. Ron DeSantis shortly afterward made clear he still expects movement and encouraged people to “stay tuned.”
Meanwhile, the White House has aggressively pushed Republican-controlled states across the country to try to maximize seats where the GOP enjoys an advantage for U.S. House contests ahead of the Midterms.
After Indiana lawmakers opted against holding a Special Session on redistricting, Trump blasted GOP lawmakers there, specially state Sens. Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for resisting the push.
“The Democrats have done redistricting for years, often illegally, and all other appropriate Republican States have done it,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
“Because of these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen,’ and a few others, they could be depriving Republicans of a majority in the House, a very big deal! California is trying to pick up five seats, and no one is complaining about that. It’s weak ‘Republicans’ that cause our Country such problems — It’s why we have crazy Policies and Ideas that are so bad for America.”
Perez, of note, enjoys a better relationship with Trump than he does with DeSantis, and many have expected he would ultimately defer to the desires of the White House.
The current map, signed by DeSantis and designed by his office in 2022 after he vetoed a map produced by the Legislature, has resulted in a 20-8 U.S. House delegation from Florida every cycle it has been in effect.
But Florida Republicans saw an opportunity to revisit those lines after the Florida Supreme Court this year upheld the map and rejected arguments that DeSantis wrongly broke up minority communities and eliminated two Black-controlled districts with his cartography.
The court decision called into question the enforceability of the Fair Districts Amendment to Florida’s Constitution, especially its ban on diminishing minority voting power.
Perez cited the decision when he announced he would name a Select Committee to explore redistricting in the upcoming Legislative Session.
Perez and Select Committee Chair Mike Redondo have not responded to requests for comment about the upcoming meeting. Amelia Angleton, a spokesperson for the Speaker’s Office, said further information will be released one week before the meeting.
Democrats, a super-minority caucus in the House, remain opposed to moving forward with the process at all.
“I am waiting to see what the proposed maps will look like, and I am opposed to any redistricting efforts that are not required by the constitution or ordered by the courts,” said Rep. Bruce Antone, ranking Democrat on the House Select Committee.