Florida House and Senate committees have approved an aggressively gerrymandered congressional map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).\u00a0<\/p>\n
The votes, which came within hours of the opening of a redistricting special session, put the state on a breathtakingly fast trajectory to deliver up to four more Republican congressional seats in time for the 2026 midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DeSantis pushed Florida Republicans to pass the new map despite a voter-approved ban in the state constitution that prohibits partisan gerrymandering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That decision has not been without controversy.<\/p>\n
A majority of Floridians do not support<\/a> the redistricting plan, according to recent polling from Emerson College. Members of the public who testified at Tuesday\u2019s committee meetings did not mince words.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people delivered a mandate, not a suggestion, to not draw partisan maps,\u201d Cynthia Slater, a local leader with the Florida NAACP, told lawmakers. \u201cHow can you sleep at night knowing that this decision is in your hands?\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, not all lawmakers voted along party lines. State Sen. Jennifer Bradley (R), an attorney, called the measure unconstitutional. She said she could not vote in favor because it was predicated on a legal ruling<\/a> that Republicans expect from the U.S. Supreme Court, but that has not yet been issued.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t do it. It\u2019s just unconstitutional,\u201d Bradley said. \u201cIt\u2019s a tough one, but I\u2019m a no.\u201d<\/p>\n DeSantis released<\/a> the proposed map Monday, just one day before each chamber was scheduled to hold their only public hearings on the measure.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amy Keith, executive director of Common Cause Florida, called the map a slap in the face of the people of Florida and condemned legislators for rushing to change district lines without allowing the public to have a say.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been kept out of this process that has been conducted behind closed doors,\u201d Keith said. \u201cThe people of Florida deserve not to have their districts changed at the last minute before a midterm election. They deserve an opportunity to know their districts, the people voting with them and the people vying to represent them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n As the House panel voted, a Senate committee simultaneously held its own rushed hearing. GOP leaders have signaled that both chambers will give final approval to the plan Wednesday, racing through a redistricting process in less than 72 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jason Poreda, a DeSantis staffer who drew the proposed map, told lawmakers in Tuesday\u2019s hearing that he had not used racial data to determine the district lines.<\/p>\n \u201cI drew this map as a race-neutral map, without consideration for race,\u201d Poreda began, before he was interrupted by laughter from attendees.<\/p>\n Rep. Mike Redondo (R), the committee chair, swiftly intervened.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will not be laughter,\u201d Redondo said. \u201cThis is going to be an appropriately held committee. I would ask that you respect everyone who\u2019s speaking.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The new Florida map comes nearly a year after President Donald Trump claimed Republicans were \u201centitled\u201d to five more congressional seats in Texas, igniting an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting arms race that has spread across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n In three states \u2014\u00a0Florida, Virginia and Missouri \u2014 it remains uncertain which maps will be in effect for this year\u2019s elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n After Democrat-led California and Virginia both passed new maps, an emerging consensus on both sides of the aisle has emerged, suggesting that Democrats may have fought Trump\u2019s gerrymandering scheme to a draw.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nonetheless, there has been a key difference in the two parties\u2019 approaches: GOP-controlled states have redrawn maps swiftly and without voter approval, while Democrats have gone to the voters to approve their proposed plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, Florida is following the same script as Texas Republicans nearly to the letter.\u00a0<\/p>\n Asked by reporters Tuesday to explain why the state was redrawing its district lines, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) gave a familiar answer: \u201cThe governor drew a map and it is our job to entertain that map, to debate it, to converse it and to eventually vote on it.\u201d<\/p>\n Texas Republicans used<\/a> the same line last July, telling Democrats that they were considering a new map because Gov. Greg Abbott (R) had put redistricting on the agenda for a special legislative session.\u00a0<\/p>\n