{"id":146370,"date":"2026-02-06T18:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146370\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T18:51:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T18:51:15","slug":"first-lawsuit-filed-as-florida-becomes-battleground-for-redistricting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/146370\/","title":{"rendered":"First lawsuit filed as Florida becomes battleground for redistricting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed California’s new redistricting map<\/a> to move forward, two Florida residents<\/a> have filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping Republicans from reshaping Florida’s congressional districts.<\/p>\n

The suit alleges that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Secretary of State Cord Byrd exceeded their authority by making election-related changes before the Legislature approved new district maps.<\/p>\n

Implications for US House control<\/p>\n

DeSantis has called a special legislative session for April 20 to address redistricting \u2013 a move analysts say could give Republicans three to five additional seats in the U.S. House if district lines are redrawn. Republicans currently hold a 20-8 advantage in Florida’s congressional delegation.<\/p>\n

What Florida law allows<\/p>\n

According to Politico<\/a>, Florida law permits redistricting following the decennial census but does not explicitly address mid-decade redistricting, which has emerged as a flashpoint in several states.<\/p>\n

After DeSantis announced the special session, Byrd moved the qualifying period for congressional races from April to June, citing state law that allows changes during a redistricting year. The plaintiffs argue those changes are not valid unless and until the Legislature passes a new map, and that the governor cannot unilaterally declare that redistricting will occur.<\/p>\n

“Gov. DeSantis exceeded his constitutional authority by usurping a core legislative responsibility in service of his desire to enact a mid-decade gerrymander,” said Marina Jenkins, executive director of the National Redistricting Foundation. “The Florida constitution is clear, the Legislature is the branch of government that is responsible for redistricting.”<\/p>\n

Democrats have vowed to challenge the effort at every stage.<\/p>\n

Broader redistricting fight<\/p>\n

DeSantis began advocating for new district lines last summer after Texas moved to redraw<\/a> its congressional map at the urging of President Donald Trump \u2013 a shift expected to benefit Republicans. In December, the Supreme Court declined<\/a> to block Texas’ new map.<\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded by pushing redistricting to the ballot. Voters approved new maps in November, a move analysts say could give Democrats up to five additional seats and offset gains in Texas.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court later rejected a challenge<\/a> by California Republicans, ruling the maps reflected partisan considerations rather than racial discrimination \u2013 a key distinction, since the Court has said partisan gerrymandering claims are not reviewable in federal court.<\/p>\n

What comes next<\/p>\n

DeSantis is closely watching a pending Louisiana case before the Supreme Court that could further restrict the use of race in drawing congressional districts. He argues a similar ruling would allow Florida to redraw seats in South Florida with large Black and Hispanic populations.<\/p>\n

The legal fight unfolds against the backdrop of the 2026 midterm elections, where Republicans hold a narrow House majority, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to flip control.<\/p>\n

The post First lawsuit filed as Florida becomes battleground for redistricting<\/a> appeared first on Straight Arrow News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed California’s new redistricting map to move forward, two Florida residents…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[70817,70816,14257,28,30,29,1443,10351,4219,412,807,4497],"class_list":{"0":"post-146370","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-california-republicans","9":"tag-congressional-delegation","10":"tag-congressional-districts","11":"tag-florida","12":"tag-florida-headlines","13":"tag-florida-news","14":"tag-legislature","15":"tag-redistricting","16":"tag-republicans","17":"tag-ron-desantis","18":"tag-south-florida","19":"tag-supreme-court"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}