Florida set to adopt congressional map favoring Republicans

Florida Republicans are poised to adopt a congressional map, pressing forward with a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis, that would most likely add four congressional districts for the party while eliminating three held by Democrats.

The map, which the Florida Senate approved by a party- line vote of 24-15 Wednesday during a special session of the Legislature, was put forward by DeSantis after he vetoed a version approved in March by state legislators that would have added two Republican seats and subtracted one from the Democrats.

The new proposal would create 20 seats that favor Republicans, and just eight that tilt toward Democrats, meaning the GOP would be likely to hold 71% of the seats. Former President Donald Trump carried Florida in 2020 with 51.2% of the vote.

The Florida map would erase some of the gains Democrats have made in this year’s national redistricting process. The 2022 map had been poised to be balanced between the two major parties, with a nearly equal number of House districts that are expected to lean Democratic and Republican for the first time in more than 50 years.

The map would also serve as a high-profile, if possibly temporary, victory for DeSantis, who has emerged as one of the Republican Party’s leading figures and has not ruled out challenging Trump for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

The Florida House is expected to pass the map Thursday and DeSantis is certain to sign it.

If it is adopted into law, the Florida map would face legal challenges from Democrats, who clashed with Republicans on Tuesday over whether the proposal violated the state’s constitution and the Voting Rights Act’s prohibition on racial gerrymandering.

Adam Kincaid, executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, the party’s main mapmaking organization, said the proposed map complied with the state constitution “while remaining faithful to the U.S. Constitution and the requirements of the Voting Rights Act.”

Some Democrats predicted that the DeSantis map would ultimately not pass legal muster — although any successful challenge would probably not arrive in time for the elections in November.

The Florida map would end the congressional career of Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat from Jacksonville, by carving up a district that stretches across North Florida to combine Black neighborhoods in Jacksonville and Tallahassee.