{"id":244480,"date":"2026-04-24T09:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244480\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:08:21","slug":"republicans-warn-desantiss-florida-redistricting-push-fraught-with-peril","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/244480\/","title":{"rendered":"Republicans warn DeSantis\u2019s Florida redistricting push \u2018fraught with peril\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida Republicans are barreling ahead with a high-stakes redistricting session as the party looks to offset Democrats\u2019 new maps in Virginia<\/a>. <\/p>\n

State lawmakers in the Sunshine State are set to\u00a0convene\u00a0next week<\/a> in what is widely seen as the GOP\u2019s last chance to redraw congressional maps before the November midterms. <\/p>\n

The effort, however, has some Republicans\u00a0warning Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to\u00a0tread lightly, pointing to recent Democratic wins across the states as well as the Florida Constitution\u2019s clear anti-gerrymandering language. They warn the push could pose more risk than reward \u2014 arguing that changing the maps could\u00a0ultimately backfire\u00a0on the party.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t feel great about it,\u201d a GOP consultant with a close relationship to DeSantis and the legislature told The Hill when asked about the redistricting session.<\/p>\n

In recent months, DeSantis has voiced support for redrawing the state\u2019s maps<\/a> amid the nationwide redistricting battle, which President Trump ignited in Texas last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what else happens, that is going to have to be addressed,\u201d DeSantis said last December, referring to\u00a0a pending decision<\/a>\u00a0from the Supreme Court that could change the landmark Voting Rights Act.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s argued that\u00a0Florida should act before the high court weighs in on the case.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit, involving Louisiana\u2019s congressional maps, regards how much race can factor into redistricting plans, and the court appeared inclined to limit the practice during October oral arguments.<\/p>\n

The governor also cited the state\u2019s population growth since 2020, arguing that a reapportionment would more accurately characterize the shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur population has changed so much in the last four or five years. We need to get apportioned properly and people deserve equal representation,\u201d DeSantis said in January, when he announced the special session<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yet, when lawmakers\u00a0convene\u00a0this upcoming Tuesday, only 2020 data will be available to use to redraw the map.<\/p>\n

Proposed congressional lines haven\u2019t been made public either.<\/p>\n

Florida state Rep. Kevin Chambliss (D), one of three Democrats who sits on the Florida House Select Redistricting Committee, suggested to The Hill that the plan hasn\u2019t been released because the state doesn\u2019t have \u201caccurate Census data or accurate population data as referenced by several members of both parties for the last four years to even start to draw a map.\u201d\u00a0He noted that Democrats haven\u2019t seen a map.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still kind of unknown what the ultimate goal is,\u201d the Republican consultant added.<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019s office did not respond to requests for comment from The Hill.<\/p>\n

To further complicate DeSantis\u2019s effort, several legal and political hurdles are making his fellow Republicans anxious about even moving forward with a new congressional map in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you ask most Republican consultants, they\u2019re hoping and praying that they don\u2019t go for many seats,\u201d the consultant with ties to DeSantis and the legislature said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe less, the better,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

Concerned Florida Republicans point to Democrats\u2019 recent victories<\/a> in the state. The party, in March special elections, flipped two GOP-held state legislative seats \u2014 including a state House district<\/a> that hosts Trump\u2019s Mar-a-Lago resort.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s Constitution also has strict anti-gerrymandering language, meaning lawmakers can\u2019t blatantly redraw the congressional lines for partisan gain.<\/p>\n

Anticipating lawsuits against any redistricting plan, some in the GOP expressed concern it would be hard to defend the redrawing of maps before the Florida Supreme Court \u2014 even though the majority of justices were appointed by DeSantis.<\/p>\n

Another Florida Republican operative, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, told The Hill they\u00a0weren\u2019t\u00a0\u201call that optimistic\u201d about redrawing new maps.<\/p>\n

\u201cRedistricting is fraught with peril,\u201d the Florida GOP operative said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re going to be diluting strong Republican districts to try and create other potential Republican districts,\u201d the person added. \u201cAnd in doing so, if the atmospherics are bad going into the November election, you risk losing those seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Rep. Mar\u00eda\u00a0Elvira\u00a0Salazar (R-Fla.) said she would \u201chave left the lines the way they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if the governor of the state of Florida and the legislature\u00a0believes\u00a0differently, who am I to say?\u201d\u00a0she\u00a0added.<\/p>\n

Democrats, too,\u00a0believe DeSantis\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0be able to overcome legal hurdles on redrawing new maps.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what happened in Virginia, or any other state, partisan gerrymandering is unconstitutional in Florida. Governor DeSantis has no good excuse,\u201d Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell (D) said in a statement responding to the state\u2019s referendum.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny attempt to redraw congressional districts right now is a direct response to\u00a0President Trump\u2019s call for partisan gerrymandering and that is illegal in Florida,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also warned the Florida GOP<\/a> against changing its maps after Virginia narrowly passed new Democrat-backed maps Tuesday. This was Democrats\u2019 last shot to redistrict in the 2026 midterm cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur message to Florida Republicans is, \u2018F around and find out,\u2019\u201d Jeffries told reporters in Washington Wednesday, adding that the \u201cthe electoral tide is turning in Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some Florida Republicans, however, still see redistricting as a key opportunity for party pickups in the Sunshine State this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is that if Florida simply goes in and it makes a more compact map and puts cities back together,\u201d Adam Kincaid, president and executive director for the National Republican Redistricting\u00a0Trust said, adding that he could see \u201cscenarios where you can, you know, maybe unlock a couple seats or a couple pickup opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0not going to have the scenario where\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0like\u00a0some sort of\u00a0a 25 to 3\u00a0map that every district is Trump plus 10 and above,\u201d Kincaid continued.<\/p>\n

Still, the redistricting has generated mixed reactions, even among Florida Republicans.<\/p>\n

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.),\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0running for Florida governor this fall,\u00a0told The Hill\u00a0he supports the redistricting efforts in the state\u00a0while Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.)\u00a0told Punchbowl\u00a0News<\/a>\u00a0in March \u201cDon\u2019t\u00a0do it. I\u2019ve\u00a0said it from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0under a House Ethics Committee probe over\u00a0alleged sexual misconduct and campaign finance violations,\u00a0allegations that Mills has denied\u00a0\u2014 told The Hill he\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0concerned if lawmakers made his district more competitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever happens with the redistricting \u2014 whether, you know, [it] changes my seat,\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0change my seat \u2014 I leave that up to our governor and the state legislators, and trust in their hand,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rebecca Beitsch contributed<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Florida Republicans are barreling ahead with a high-stakes redistricting session as the party looks to offset Democrats\u2019 new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,13370,30,29,9105,10351,4219,412,1360],"class_list":{"0":"post-244480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-florida","9":"tag-florida-constitution","10":"tag-florida-headlines","11":"tag-florida-news","12":"tag-president-trump","13":"tag-redistricting","14":"tag-republicans","15":"tag-ron-desantis","16":"tag-the-sunshine-state"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244480","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=244480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}