TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) \u2014 With President Donald Trump’s poll numbers fading, beleaguered Florida Democrats hoped this year would be an opportunity to gain ground in the state.<\/p>\n
But now they’re looking at the possibility of losing up to four U.S. House seats in the midterms because of a new congressional map<\/a> passed this week by the Republican-controlled legislature.<\/p>\n Gov. Ron DeSantis<\/a> said redistricting will reflect Florida’s population growth and political leanings. Democrats called it a power grab by Trump, who has been urging Republicans to redraw maps across the country. <\/a><\/p>\n The changes use both \u201cpacking and cracking,\u201d the principal tools of gerrymandering. Packing involves concentrating like-minded voters into fewer districts, or into a single district, to minimize their overall impact across multiple districts. Cracking involves spreading like-minded voters across more districts, making it harder for them to influence any single district\u2019s election.<\/p>\n Under the new lines, there are 24 districts where Trump won in 2024 by double digits, according to analysts from both parties. If Republicans win all of them, it will be a gain of four seats.<\/p>\n Although there will almost certainly be legal challenges to the map, here\u2019s a look at how the new boundaries affect Florida\u2019s current Democratic-controlled districts.<\/p>\n Cracking in Tampa Bay area could mean no Democratic seats<\/p>\n Pinellas and Hillsborough counties were, not that long ago, regarded as two of the most populous swing counties in U.S. politics. Voters in and around Tampa and St. Petersburg served as a bellwether in presidential contests.<\/p>\n Currently, the core metro area is split between the right-leaning district represented by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and the left-leaning district represented by Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor. The new map splits that into three districts, all of which tilt Republican, and Castor’s seat now includes more conservative rural areas.<\/p>\n She called the new designs \u201cblatantly illegal\u201d because of Florida\u2019s state constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering. But she said, \u201cNo matter how new districts are drawn, I will keep fighting for Tampa Bay families.\u201d<\/p>\n Luna, a top Democratic target in November, picked up more Republican-leaning precincts, but Democrats in Washington said they could still win the seat given Trump\u2019s lagging popularity.<\/p>\n Packing in Orlando turns two Democratic districts into one<\/p>\n Right now, Democrats Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost have adjoining districts in and around Orlando, with Frost\u2019s concentrated in the city and Soto\u2019s covering Kissimmee and extending south and east over much of Osceola County.<\/p>\n Now, the Orlando metro core will become a single district that is all but guaranteed to go Democratic. Meanwhile, other parts of Orlando will become part of a separate district that’s more sprawling and more Republican.<\/p>\n Frost blasted the design for pairing city residents with voters who live a two-hour drive away. \u201cThat\u2019s how hard DeSantis map-makers had to work to dilute the impact of voters in Orange County and make this district red,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n Soto, who is Puerto Rican and represents many Puerto Ricans now, lashed out at the governor.<\/p>\n \u201cDeSantis declared war against Florida\u2019s 1.3M Puerto Ricans,\u201d he wrote on social media. \u201cWe are American citizens, our people served and died for this country, and we vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Heavily Black district erased to reorder south Florida seats<\/p>\n