{"id":380816,"date":"2026-08-25T17:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/380816\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T17:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T17:02:09","slug":"desantis-uncertain-floridas-new-gop-favored-congressional-map-can-save-republicans-this-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/380816\/","title":{"rendered":"DeSantis uncertain Florida\u2019s new GOP-favored congressional map can save Republicans this fall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FloridaFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking at Feeding Tampa Bay\u2019s headquarters in Tampa on Aug. 24, 2026. Credit: Ton DeSantis\/Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Although Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-led Florida Legislature have always insisted constitutional obligations compelled their mid-decade congressional redistricting, the map was designed to add as many as four Florida Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.<\/p>\n

But with Donald Trump\u2019s\u00a0approval ratings tanking<\/a>, DeSantis acknowledged Monday that the GOP may not net all four seats.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year they\u2019re winnable, but I think that it\u2019s going to require some effort,\u201d the governor said Monday during a press conference in Tampa.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s redistricting was set in motion in July 2025, when the governor initially said it would be \u201cappropriate\u201d for the Florida Legislature to redraw the state\u2019s 28 congressional districts because it had been\u00a0\u201cmalapportioned\u201d\u00a0<\/a>following the 2020 U.S. Census.<\/p>\n

Those comments came a week after President Donald Trump, concerned House Republicans could lose their slim majority, urged Texas to redraw its congressional map to add GOP seats to Congress, and that\u00a0he\u2019d like other<\/a>\u00a0states to do so as well.<\/p>\n

Later in the year, DeSantis said the state would be\u00a0\u201cforced\u201d<\/a>\u00a0to redistrict because of an expected ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of a part of the Voting Rights Act, and he and the Legislature would not use \u201cpartisan data\u201d in composing a new map.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Supreme Court\u00a0did ultimately strike down<\/a>\u00a0that portion of the Voting Rights Act. It happened the same day the Florida House approved the new map, which left four Democratic incumbents \u2014 Tampa Bay\u2019s Kathy Castor, Central Florida\u2019s Darren Soto, and South Florida\u2019s Debbie Wasserman Shultz and Jared Moskowitz \u2014 residing in heavily Republican-leaning districts.<\/p>\n

DeSantis has previously boasted that his own redistricting map following the decennial Census saved the Republican majority in the House in 2022. That map added four Republican seats to Congress that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was partially the map but partially you know, me winning the biggest victory that Republicans had ever won in the history of governor\u2019s races. That had a lot to do with it, too,\u201d he said Monday.<\/p>\n

He was less certain Florida\u2019s new map could save the GOP this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow in this election, obviously I\u2019m not on the ballot,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the political environment\u2019s a little bit different. You\u2019re seeing it. You\u2019re seeing it in numbers, and when you do these midterms, it\u2019s not necessarily just about local. It can be, but a lot of times it can be nationalized. And if there\u2019s a certain mood in the country, that can be something that you have to combat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Embattled Democrats<\/p>\n

Two of those targeted Democrats, Wasserman Schultz and Moskowitz, opted to run in different districts this year, and both won big in their primary elections last week.<\/p>\n

Soto and Castor are running for re-election in their same districts. For Soto, his CD 9 seat went from 3.5%-plus for Kamala Harris in 2024 to one Trump won by nearly 18 points that year.<\/p>\n

Castor has served in Congress for 20 years in a district that always leaned strongly Democratic. Now it\u2019s Trump +10, but some political observers believe she has a chance to defeat Republican former Florida House member Mike Beltran.<\/p>\n

DeSantis said he had spoken with the all of the Republicans now running.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re helping them out in different ways, but I think that they\u2019re all going to be competitive races for sure,\u201d the governor said, adding that \u201cabsent major events\u201d most voters \u00a0will know for whom they will vote by Labor Day.<\/p>\n

Voting rights advocates and Democrats argue the map violates the Florida Constitution.<\/p>\n

The Elias Law Group, on behalf of the Equal Ground Education Fund,\u00a0filed a lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0the day DeSantis signed the new congressional map into law in May, contending violation of Florida\u2019s 2010 Fair District Amendments, which prohibits drawing congressional (and state legislative) districts that favor incumbents of a political party.<\/p>\n

The Florida Supreme Court in June rejected an emergency petition to stop the new map from taking effect. However, the underlying legal challenge remains pending.<\/p>\n

Republicans represent 20 of the state\u2019s 28 congressional districts. Democrats represent seven districts. They had represented eight districts, but Democrat Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick\u00a0resigned<\/a>\u00a0in Congressional District 20 earlier this year amid allegations of stealing federal disaster money.<\/p>\n

Florida Phoenix<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This article appears in August 20 \u2013 26, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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