TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court declined to issue an order to stop the state’s new congressional maps from being used during the 2026 midterm elections on Wednesday.

The move allows the current court case in the Second Judicial Circuit for Leon County, Florida, to continue.

“Here, Petitioners ask us to intervene in the First District Court of Appeal’s ongoing consideration of an appeal of an order declining to grant a temporary injunction. At this time, we do not have jurisdiction over that matter, and we do not simply assume that the First District’s decision will provide an appropriate basis for this Court’s review. We add that no motions for rehearing will be considered,” the court said in the ruling.

Gov. DeSantis responded to the decision on X.

“The Florida Supreme Court has REJECTED the challenge to the state’s redistricting plan and new map. This assures that the recently enacted map will be in place for the 2026 election,” DeSantis said.

The Florida Supreme Court has REJECTED the challenge to the state’s redistricting plan and new map.

This assures that the recently enacted map will be in place for the 2026 election.

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 10, 2026

A circuit court judge is considering a case that seeks to block the new maps from being used in the upcoming midterm elections.

DeSantis signed the maps into law on May 4, after they passed the Florida Legislature during a special session.

Leaders at the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) say Florida’s congressional district map violates the Fair Districts Amendments, which were written into the Florida Constitution after being approved by voters in 2010.

NRF Executive Director Marina Jenkins said the new map is a political gerrymander that violates the amendments. The recently signed map gives Florida Republicans advantages in four more congressional districts than the previous map, which had seven districts that leaned Democrat and 20 that leaned Republican.

“The 2026 plan has the largest pro-Republican skew of any congressional map in history for any state with 15 or more districts,” Jenkins said. “This is exactly what the Fair Districts Amendments were designed to prevent.”

Lawmakers in the Florida Senate voted to approve the new redistricting map proposal released earlier this week by DeSantis. Four Republicans voted against the bill, bringing the vote count to 21 in favor and 17 opposed. 

The measure cleared the House with a vote of 83 to 28. The special session was called by DeSantis in January, and it kicked off Tuesday in Tallahassee and is scheduled to run through Friday, May 1, but it could end sooner.

The topic of congressional redistricting has become controversial among state lawmakers. It’s a largely unprecedented move to redistrict mid-decade.

Florida law bans gerrymandering for political gain.

Under the governor’s proposed map, Republicans could potentially gain four seats in Congress. The move would make Florida one of the final states to redraw its congressional maps — joining Texas, Virginia and California.

“We’re in a situation where, you know, we believe there’s defects in the current map,” DeSantis said during an August 2025 press conference. “We also believe that the districts are malapportioned because of the explosive growth that we’ve seen in the state of Florida. And so, I think even if they don’t do a new census, even if they don’t revise the current census, I still think it is appropriate to be doing it.”