{"id":247770,"date":"2026-04-27T00:59:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T00:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/247770\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T00:59:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T00:59:13","slug":"candidates-election-officials-in-limbo-as-florida-considers-new-map","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/247770\/","title":{"rendered":"Candidates, election officials in limbo as Florida considers new map"},"content":{"rendered":"

Potential changes to Florida\u2019s congressional lines<\/a> \u2014 ones that could\u00a0ultimately get\u00a0tossed out\u00a0or blocked\u00a0\u2014\u00a0are leaving incumbents and candidates in limbo\u00a0as lawmakers get ready to weigh in on\u00a0an anticipated\u00a0new House map<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in the Sunshine State are set to\u00a0convene\u00a0on Tuesday\u00a0for a special session over several priorities, including redistricting, as Florida\u00a0represents\u00a0the last opportunity for Republicans to\u00a0draw new congressional districts\u00a0ahead of November.<\/p>\n

Yet,\u00a0proposed lines have yet to be made\u00a0public,\u00a0and there\u2019s uncertainty over whether a new map could even withstand a legal challenge given the state\u00a0constitution\u2019s clear anti-gerrymandering language.<\/p>\n

The confusion\u00a0over the\u00a0state\u2019s\u00a0map\u00a0means candidates may be forced to introduce themselves to new voters\u00a0late in the cycle while scrambling\u00a0to meet registration deadlines less than two months out from the June 12\u00a0filing deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor candidates, particularly incumbents running in competitive districts, this is just extremely unsettling,\u201d explained former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.),\u00a0who\u00a0represented\u00a0a competitive South Florida seat.<\/p>\n

Republican incumbents \u201cknow they\u2019re going to face headwinds in November, and a lot of them have invested a lot of time and resources into their current constituents, their existing constituents,\u201d Curbelo said. \u201cSo, this uncertainty\u00a0is just very taxing and unnerving, particularly in a challenging political climate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida lawmakers are meeting\u00a0this\u00a0week as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) considers\u00a0new congressional lines ahead of November. The Florida governor has said that a new map is\u00a0warranted, primarily for two reasons: For one,\u00a0he\u2019s\u00a0argued that the state\u2019s population has grown\u00a0substantially since\u00a02020, meaning the state should be considering a new apportionment of the districts.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s\u00a0also said that a pending decision from the Supreme Court over the fate of the Voting Rights Act, and whether race can be considered when drawing districts, is expected to come soon.<\/p>\n

During a rare rehearing of the case in October, the high court\u00a0appeared inclined to limit<\/a>\u00a0race as a factor in redistricting. DeSantis has said\u00a0the state will\u00a0be required\u00a0to act when that decision is made, so the state is getting ahead of the case now.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of it is, we\u2019re going to be forced to do it\u00a0I think because the Supreme Court\u2019s VRA decision is going to impact the current map, so just \u2014 no matter what else happens, that is going to have to be addressed,\u201d DeSantis said in December.<\/p>\n

However, the Supreme Court has not yet issued a decision in that case. And while Florida\u2019s population has shifted since\u00a0the\u00a02020\u00a0census,\u00a0the 2020 population numbers will be the only figures available for the governor and lawmakers to\u00a0use when drawing a new map.<\/p>\n

Florida Senate President Ben Albritton (R) told members in\u00a0a memo on Friday<\/a>\u00a0that they were still waiting to hear from DeSantis\u2019s office\u00a0regarding\u00a0redistricting\u00a0\u2014 less than a week before lawmakers are set to start the special session.<\/p>\n

Rep.\u00a0Maria\u00a0Elvira\u00a0Salazar,\u00a0who is seen as one of the more vulnerable Florida GOP incumbents and\u00a0represents\u00a0a South Florida seat, told reporters last week she\u00a0liked her congressional lines as they are but said it would be out of her control if DeSantis wanted to change them.<\/p>\n

Asked if she worried about whether\u00a0redistricting\u00a0might\u00a0make her district more competitive, Salazar\u00a0responded: \u201cI worry about immigration.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0what I worry about.\u201d She added\u00a0that she was working\u00a0on\u00a0an\u00a0immigration reform bill.<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats are also looking to oust\u00a0Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.),\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0under a House Ethics Committee probe<\/a> for alleged campaign finance\u00a0violations and sexual misconduct \u2014 accusations the\u00a0lawmaker\u00a0has denied. But\u00a0the Central Florida Republican\u00a0told The Hill last week he was\u00a0not concerned about whether the new lines\u00a0would make incumbents like him more vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u00a0it\u2019ll\u00a0all be a very fair and equal and balanced approach,\u201d Mills told The Hill about the state\u2019s\u00a0anticipated\u00a0redistricting.<\/p>\n

Some candidates, too, have\u00a0suggested\u00a0that\u00a0potential new maps in place before November\u00a0wouldn\u2019t\u00a0create too many obstacles for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether the maps are over a zip code or not, for the most part, the people in South Florida share the same culture, the same economy,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Michael Carbonara, an entrepreneur and Republican candidate running for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz\u2019s (D-Fla.) seat.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the\u00a0lines,\u00a0whether they change, I\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0see that being a drastic change in the people that\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0representing\u00a0and the values that they have,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty over the maps has left candidates, incumbents, state parties,\u00a0voters\u00a0and election officials all in a wait-and-see mindset. But officials and\u00a0party leaders stress that\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0prepared for whatever happens.<\/p>\n

Lake County Supervisor of Elections Alan Hays, a Republican\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0previously served in both chambers of the Florida Legislature,\u00a0wasn\u2019t expecting\u00a0many changes to\u00a0Central Florida, but he said that he\u00a0and his team would be prepared for whatever changes are made that\u00a0impact\u00a0the county.<\/p>\n

\u201cI prefer to just play it calm and cool, and then when the changes occur, we will follow the statutes,\u201d Hays told The Hill. \u201cThat\u2019s all we\u00a0do,\u00a0is we follow the law and \u2026 let the\u00a0results speak for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried told The Hill that even if the state redistricts,\u00a0the state party has been conducting voter-outreach efforts for months.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already been in contact with millions of voters across the state, 5 million-plus last year, another couple million already this year,\u201d Fried said.\u00a0\u201cSo\u00a0because of our year-round organizing, we are able to quickly get messaging out to the people,\u00a0to be knocking on doors, making phone calls.\u201d<\/p>\n

But election officials also acknowledge that one of the byproducts of redistricting is that it puts a strain on county resources and can confuse voters on which candidate\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0expecting to vote for.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0not to mention making sure ballots\u00a0are printed out and ready\u00a0for voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey get a Sharpie and they draw a line, but I\u2019m dealing with real people,\u201d Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington, a Democrat,\u00a0said at\u00a0an\u00a0\u201cEngage in the Community\u201d event hosted by Central Florida Public Media\u00a0earlier this month<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cAnd I\u00a0have to\u00a0move voters into new precincts,\u00a0reprecinct,\u00a0find new polling locations,\u00a0and then I\u00a0have to\u00a0notify the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone\u00a0has\u00a0even considered the cost of this, not only to local governments through the supervisor of elections, but the cost of the special session and all of that,\u201d she said at the event.<\/p>\n

Local and state party leaders say they feel the downstream effects of redistricting and educating their voters, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe onus is on us to make sure that we communicate with our voters, but that comes with an expense, that comes with stress and confusion, and it also results in distrust in their government to change the lines and to rig this process,\u201d said Jarred Cornell, the interim chair of the\u00a0Orange County Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

Despite the confusion over the new maps,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not unlikely that new congressional lines passed by the state Legislature could be thrown out or put on hold before November \u2014 keeping the House map as-is.<\/p>\n

Florida GOP Chair Evan Powers told The Hill\u00a0the party was \u201cprepared for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always joke that I\u2019m prepared to run under any set of rules at any given time.\u201d<\/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":"Potential changes to Florida\u2019s congressional lines \u2014 ones that could\u00a0ultimately get\u00a0tossed out\u00a0or blocked\u00a0\u2014\u00a0are leaving incumbents and candidates in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247771,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[108769,147,14257,28,3291,30,29,108770,10351,412,807,4497],"class_list":["post-247770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-carlos-curbelo","tag-central-florida","tag-congressional-districts","tag-florida","tag-florida-governor","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-house-map","tag-redistricting","tag-ron-desantis","tag-south-florida","tag-supreme-court"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247770","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=247770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247770\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}