The Polsby\u2013Popper test and the Reock Ratio compactness formula show the new coastal Broward, Palm Beach, Miami-Dade county 25th District is the least compact in the state. It\u2019s in the bottom four in the Convex Hull test.<\/p>\n
Chris Marino, chair of the Broward Republican Party, said there are common interests among communities that make up the district.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new 25th is one of the most interesting seats in the state because the map turned it into a true South Florida coastal district. It now runs through communities in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade that share many of the same concerns: affordability, insurance, flooding and storm resilience, infrastructure, public safety, and quality of life,\u201d Marino said via email.<\/p>\n
The new districts and their boundaries have even confused candidates and their campaign staffers.<\/p>\n
Michael Carbonara, a Republican who\u2019s been running for eight months for his party\u2019s nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, issued a news release 48 hours after the Legislature passed the maps declaring that he\u2019s still running.<\/p>\n
His plan: run in the new 22nd Congressional District, the one that goes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico and that the campaign\u2019s news\u00a0release said includes \u201cCarbonara\u2019s home community of Southwest Ranches.\u201d<\/p>\n
It doesn\u2019t. Southwest Ranches, including the address where he\u2019s registered to vote, is in the new 26th District, where Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart is seeking reelection.<\/p>\n
Political impact<\/p>\n
Voters, especially in South Florida, will have to get to know a new crop of political leaders as they find themselves living in new congressional districts. Democratic voters in the party\u2019s remaining strongholds in Broward and Palm Beach counties may also have to get used to something unfamiliar \u2014 being represented in Congress by a Republican.<\/p>\n
Congressional careers could end for some prominent Florida Democrats. And Republicans will see new paths to winning elections.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s by design.<\/p>\n
DeSantis pushed through the new district map after President Donald Trump told Republican states to change congressional district boundaries to get more Republicans and fewer Democrats elected in November. Many states complied and some Democratic states have responded in kind.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-25th-congressional-district-2026-01.jpg\")
The 25th Congressional District, created in the 2026 Florida special redistricting, takes in parts of coastal Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. It stretches from Delray Beach south to Miami Beach. (Florida Senate\/courtesy)<\/p>\n
Mid-decade redistricting is unusual. Normally, boundaries are redrawn every 10 years to reflect population changes uncovered in the decennial census.<\/p>\n
The DeSantis camp provided the first look at the new district map \u2014 with districts color coded red for Republican districts and blue for Democratic districts \u2014 to Fox News, the favored news source for Republicans, before providing it to lawmakers.<\/p>\n
The partisan tilt of the new map: 24 Republican and four Democratic districts.<\/p>\n
Florida currently has 20 Republican and eight Democratic districts, already viewed by experts as skewed to disproportionately benefit Republicans.<\/p>\n
A 24-4 split works out to a congressional delegation that\u2019s 86% Republican. In 2024, which was a banner year for Republicans in Florida, Trump won 56% of the vote to 43% for Democrat Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
The state\u2019s active registered voters are 42.3% Republican, 30.2% Democratic, 24.9% no party affiliation\/independent, and 3.6% minor parties.<\/p>\n
Four incumbents \u2014 Wasserman Schultz and U.S. Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Parkland, Kathy Castor of Tampa Bay, and Darren Soto of Central Florida \u2014 face hurdles to reelection under the new districts.<\/p>\n
All have announced plans to run in reconfigured districts.<\/p>\n
Broward and Palm Beach counties currently have five Democratic districts and one Republican district. Under the new map, the two counties would have three Democratic and four Republican districts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are losing two Democratic seats in Broward County,\u201d state Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Fort Lauderdale, told her colleagues. \u201cIt\u2019s like if I have my hand. And somebody just cut off two fingers for no reason. Whole hand working, no complaining, good strong hand, and then I just loose two fingers for no apparent reason. I can\u2019t explain that to the voters.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/TFL-L-22nd-congressional-district-2026.jpg\")
The 22th Congressional District, created in the 2026 Florida special redistricting, takes in parts of Broward, including Parkland and Weston, and Palm Beach County, including Wellington and the Glades communities, and stretches west to Marco Island and the Gulf of Mexico. (Florida Senate\/courtesy)<\/p>\n
DeSantis\u2019 mapmaker put Wasserman Schultz\u2019s and Moskowitz\u2019s homes in the same district, the new 22nd. Under the Constitution, U.S. representatives must live in their states, but not their districts, and there\u2019s a long tradition of Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Florida and elsewhere not living within the borders of their district.<\/p>\n
Jason Poreda, the DeSantis aide who testified before legislative committees that he was the one who drew the new boundaries, acknowledged that partisan data was one of the things he used to devise the new lines.<\/p>\n
Democrats said that shows the maps violate the Fair Districts Amendments that voters added to the state Constitution. Fair Districts prohibits drawing of district lines to benefit a political party, requires that districts be compact, and calls for using existing political and geographical boundaries when it is feasible.<\/p>\n
Asked Friday at a news conference in Miami if the new map violates the Constitution, DeSantis said, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t.\u201d The governor\u2019s general counsel said in a memo to the Legislature that he believes the Fair Districts Amendments should be invalidated.<\/p>\n
Court challenges are certain, but it\u2019s uncertain if the issue can be resolved before this year\u2019s elections, and if the new map will go into effect during the wait. And at the Florida Supreme Court, which will consider key questions, DeSantis appointed six of the seven justices.<\/p>\n
Apparently mindful of warnings that comments during debate<\/a> could be used in court challenges<\/a> \u2014 three were filed shortly after DeSantis signed the map into law \u2014 the only Republicans who spoke about the map during the legislative debate were the sponsors, Persons-Mulicka, and state Sen. Don Gaetz, a Panhandle Republican.<\/p>\n Gaetz rejected the Democrats\u2019 assertions. \u201cI am not persuaded that this map is necessarily beneficial to the Republican Party,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Polsky said the intention was obvious. \u201cDonald Trump issued an explicit call to Republican governors across the country \u2026 an explicit call to redraw congressional lines\u201d to benefit his party\u2019s candidates, she said. \u201cNow the governor of Florida has been careful not to repeat those words. He\u2019s too savvy for that. But his justifications, every single one of them, have crumbled under the slightest scrutiny.\u201d<\/p>\n The consequences of the new districts might not be as far-reaching, at least in 2026, as the topline numbers of Trump-voting and Harris-voting districts indicate.<\/p>\n The first election after a presidential election is often bad for the party that occupies the White House. Public opinion polls show voters\u2019 assessments of Trump\u2019s performance has declined, especially since the start of the war with Iran.<\/p>\n And Democrats have been winning special elections and mayor\u2019s races in Florida \u2014 or increased their percentage of the vote even if they lost \u2014 since Trump began his second term.<\/p>\n So numbers showing Trump did well in the new districts doesn\u2019t guarantee people will vote for Republican congressional candidates in November.<\/p>\n The latest analyses from the nonpartisan Inside Elections<\/a> and from Sabato\u2019s Crystal Ball<\/a>, from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, shows some uncertainty.<\/p>\n