{"id":249731,"date":"2026-04-28T15:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249731\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T15:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T15:09:18","slug":"proposed-florida-congressional-map-targets-democratic-seats-but-could-bring-gop-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/249731\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Florida congressional map targets Democratic seats, but could bring GOP risks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting his proposed Florida congressional map before state lawmakers, a plan<\/a> that could give Republicans as many as four additional seats on paper heading into the midterms. It\u2019s a redraw that Democrats and voting rights groups are already calling illegal. <\/p>\n

The proposal comes as lawmakers prepare for a special session this week to consider<\/a> the new districts and as national pressure builds over control of the U.S. House.<\/p>\n

The map, sent to Fox News<\/a> before it was shared publicly with Floridians or the state lawmakers expected to vote on it, appears designed<\/a> to limit Democratic support in several districts now represented by U.S. Reps. Darren Soto, Kathy Castor, Lois Frankel, Jared Moskowitz, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz.<\/p>\n

Political consultant Michael Worley, with MDW Communications, said the new lines could change the makeup of those districts, but not without uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are much more compact Democratic districts now,\u201d Worley said. \u201cBut there’s a lot of NPA voters that are on the table in these newly drawn districts that are going to decide this election.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH: Proposed Florida congressional map targets Democratic seats, but could bring GOP risks<\/p>\n

DeSantis\u2019 office argues the redraw is needed because Florida was shortchanged in the census and because current redistricting rules require race-based map drawing. Earlier this month<\/a>, the governor said the state\u2019s rapid growth has left its districts out of balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cFlorida has experienced 10 years’ worth of population growth in like three,\u201d DeSantis said. \u201cAnd so if you look, our districts are not fairly apportioned because of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a transmittal letter<\/a>, EOG General Counsel David Axelman said the proposed map \u201cdoes not take race into consideration at all.\u201d The letter also challenges key parts of Florida\u2019s Fair Districts amendment, which protects against partisan map drawing and the diminishment of racial voting blocs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of race in redistricting should never happen,\u201d wrote Axelman. \u201cAny decision taken because of race triggers (and should trigger) the strictest of federal constitutional scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats sharply rejected that argument. Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said the map was drawn for President Donald Trump, not Florida voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cRon DeSantis didn\u2019t draw this map for Florida, he drew them for the only Floridian he cares about: Donald Trump,\u201d Fried said. \u201cHe would willfully break the law and screw over the people of Florida for a morsel of relevance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voting rights groups have also protested<\/a> outside the state capitol and warned the redraw would undermine the Florida Constitution. Brad Ashwell, Florida state director for All Voting is Local Action, called the move \u201cunnecessary, illegal, and a power grab.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is clear that the end goal in this state is to redraw maps in order to give one party an advantage over another, essentially putting partisan politics over the voters,\u201d Ashwell said. \u201c\u2026For once, Florida should stand by its voters and election officials and shut this undemocratic move down. No new maps!\u201d<\/p>\n

U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also threatened<\/a> legal action, calling the proposal the \u201cDeSantis Dummymander.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRon DeSantis\u2019s gerrymander is blatantly illegal and political malpractice,\u201d Jeffries said. \u201cFloridians overwhelmingly passed a Fair Districts Amendment in 2010, explicitly barring partisan gerrymandering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jeffries said Democrats would fight the proposal in court.<\/p>\n

Political experts continue to warn that Republican gains could come with tradeoffs. Dividing up purple areas, including parts of Tampa Bay, could push Democratic and no-party-affiliation voters into surrounding GOP-held districts, potentially making some of those races more competitive in a midterm environment.<\/p>\n

Dr. Susan MacManus, professor emerita at the University of South Florida, said that concern is already causing tension inside Republican ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re worried that they might lose some places which would become more competitive,\u201d MacManus said. \u201cThere’s real problem right now within the Republican ranks about whether this is a great idea or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polling<\/a> also suggests the idea is unpopular with voters. An Emerson College survey found 56% of likely Florida voters opposed a mid-decade redraw, including two-thirds of independents.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers are expected to begin reviewing the map in committee on Tuesday, with both chambers taking it up on the floor by Wednesday.<\/p>\n

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Jack Walsh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gov. Ron DeSantis is putting his proposed Florida congressional map before state lawmakers, a plan that could give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249732,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-249731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249731","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=249731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}