Washington, D.C. \u2013 Today, plaintiffs supported by the National Redistricting Foundation (NRF) submitted their appeal to the Florida First District Court of Appeal in Equal Ground Education Fund v. Byrd, a legal challenge seeking to block Florida\u2019s newly enacted congressional gerrymander on the grounds that it violates the Fair Districts Amendments to the Florida Constitution. The plaintiffs are appealing a recent lower court decision that wrongfully upheld Florida\u2019s mid-decade gerrymander. A final ruling in this case could determine Florida\u2019s congressional map for the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new mid-decade gerrymander enacted with clear partisan intent by Florida Republicans is a blatant violation of the Florida Constitution and makes Florida\u2019s congressional elections nothing more than a grotesque formality,\u201d said Marina Jenkins, Executive Director of the NRF. \u201cThe\u00a0 lower court\u2019s erroneous decision must be reversed, and the new map struck down, before Floridians\u2019 voting rights are irreparably harmed.\u201d<\/p>\n
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND:<\/p>\n
In July 2025, public reports<\/a> indicated that the Trump Administration was pushing Governor DeSantis to enact a mid-decade gerrymander to create more seats for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. In January 2026, Governor DeSantis issued a proclamation<\/a> calling for a special session in the Florida Legislature to draw a new congressional map. Despite overwhelming public opposition<\/a> to mid-decade redistricting, in April 2026, the Florida Legislature passed a new congressional gerrymander, which Governor DeSantis signed into law in May 2026.<\/p>\n Immediately after the enactment of the new gerrymander, the NRF-supported plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in state court, arguing that the map violates Article III, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution\u2014also known as the Fair Districts Amendments (FDAs), which protect against gerrymandering in several ways. Among other things, the FDAs prohibit partisan intent against individual districts and the map as a whole, and they provide standards to guard against gerrymandering, including a compactness requirement and a requirement to use existing political and geographical boundaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n The NRF-supported plaintiffs argue that Florida\u2019s new gerrymander violates the FDAs in several ways, including 1) by being drawn with partisan intent to favor the Republican Party and disfavor the Democratic Party, and with the intent to disfavor Democratic incumbents, 2) by failing to meet the compactness requirement in several congressional districts, and 3) by failing to utilize or respect existing political and geographic boundaries in numerous congressional districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n In May, a preliminary injunction hearing was held before the Circuit Court of Leon County, after which the court denied the plaintiffs\u2019 request to block the new gerrymander for the 2026 midterm elections. Now, the NRF-supported plaintiffs are appealing that decision to the First District Court of Appeal.<\/p>\n