{"id":258717,"date":"2026-05-05T02:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258717\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T02:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T02:33:11","slug":"desantis-has-signed-new-congressional-map-that-could-net-republicans-4-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/258717\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis has signed new congressional map that could net Republicans 4 seats"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 new congressional map<\/a> is now law<\/a> \u2014 and already headed to court.<\/p>\n

Just hours after DeSantis signed<\/a> off on the mid-decade redraw Monday, Equal Ground Florida and a group of voters filed<\/a> what could be the first of multiple legal challenges against the new districts. The map could help Republicans pick up as many as four additional seats in Congress, potentially creating a 24-to-4 GOP advantage in Florida\u2019s delegation.<\/p>\n

WATCH: DeSantis has signed new congressional map that could net Republicans 4 seats<\/p>\n

DeSantis has signed new congressional map that could net Republicans 4 seats<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have a governor rolling out and showing a map on Fox News<\/a> in red and blue, taking a victory lap, talking about how he has delivered for his base \u2014 in our opinion, that is a direct violation of the Constitution,\u201d said Genesis Robinson, who leads Equal Ground Florida.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit argues the new map is an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander that violates Florida\u2019s Fair Districts Amendment, which bans maps drawn to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. Robinson said the group is asking the courts to step in quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re asking the courts to intervene and stop this map from going into effect,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

DeSantis and his office have defended<\/a> the redraw, arguing the state needed to move away from districts they say were shaped around race-based voting blocs in violation of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said last year that we were going to have to redo this because of the racial gerrymandering that was done in southern Florida,\u201d DeSantis said last week.<\/p>\n

The governor\u2019s legal team has also argued that because race-related protections are included in the Fair Districts Amendment, the rest of the amendment should not control the new map if those provisions cannot stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when you take a tier out from this architecture? The structure falls,\u201d Mo Jazil, an attorney for the governor\u2019s office, told a House committee<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

Republican lawmakers have defended the map as legally sound. Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, said after last week\u2019s vote that he felt no pressure from the White House, even as Democrats argued Florida was following a broader national Republican push sparked by President Donald Trump\u2019s redistricting efforts in Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt no pressure from the White House,\u201d Fabricio said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t contact me. I had nothing to do with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats, however, say the process was rushed, partisan and lacking transparency.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about this process just reeks with a lack of transparency, and it\u2019s all done in service of Donald Trump, not in service to the people of Florida,\u201d House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

The court fight could move quickly, but timing may be one of the biggest challenges for opponents. Florida\u2019s primary is in August, and the new lines will determine who runs where in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n

The Florida Supreme Court could ultimately have the final say. Six of the court\u2019s seven justices<\/a> were appointed by DeSantis. Equal Ground\u2019s lawsuit appears to be the first challenge filed, but opponents have signaled more could be coming.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Forrest

Capitol Reporter Forrest Saunders is dedicated to sharing your voice with political leaders throughout the state. He works to hold our elected leaders accountable and amplify your concerns. Let Forrest know about the issues you want state leaders to focus on.
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Lightning fans share cheers and tears in Thunder Alley amid Game 7<\/p>\n

Thunder Alley was jumping off the decibel level Sunday night as more than 2,500 fans crammed together to cheer on the Lightning during game seven. However, Tampa Bay 28’s Robert Boyd witnessed what started off with cheers and ended with tears.<\/p>\n

Lightning fans share cheers and tears in Thunder Alley during Game 7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 new congressional map is now law \u2014 and already headed to court.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[56117,112115,29,15699,3074,232,234,233,5910,4220,112116,208],"class_list":["post-258717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tallahassee","tag-congressional-map","tag-florida-government-news","tag-florida-news","tag-midterms","tag-sunshine-state-news","tag-tallahassee","tag-tallahassee-headlines","tag-tallahassee-news","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-voting","tag-voting-map","tag-wfts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258717","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=258717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}