Florida Legislature Approves New Congressional Boundaries

The Florida state legislature on Wednesday passed a new map for congressional district boundaries. The newly-drawn borders are expected to add around four new seats for Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives. The measure was voted on in both the Florida Senate and House on Wednesday, passing both chambers. The vote was mostly along partisan lines, with the Republican majorities carrying the redistricting in both instances. One Republican broke ranks in the House, along with four in the Senate. Two Democratic state representatives voted in favor of redistricting, while none joined their Republican colleagues in the Senate vote. Ordinarily, congressional district boundaries are only redrawn at the end of each decade in accordance with new census data. That standard was thrown into disarray last year, when President Donald Trump urged Texas to redraw its lines mid-decade. Several states followed suit to benefit both Republican and Democrats' numbers in the U.S. House. Using data from the 2024 presidential election, four districts which voted for Democrat Kamala Harris are now expected to have a majority of voters who chose Republican Donald Trump. This could cost four Democratic members of Congress their seats: Darren Soto (FL-9), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Lois Frankel (FL-22), and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-25). Florida's 6th congressional district will remain unchanged in the new map. The district is generally considered a firm Republican area, currently represented by Rep. Randy Fine. The boundaries include all of Flagler and Putnam counties, plus parts of St. Johns, Marion, Lake, and Volusia counties. Under the Florida state constitution, setting district boundaries for partisan goals is illegal. Opponents of Florida's new district boundaries have accused Republican legislators of gerrymandering, which would violate state law if it were found in court to have occurred. "Passing this map, which was drafted in only two weeks and given to us with barely a day's notice, was a complete abdication of our responsibility as legislators and an insult to the voters that put us here," said Florida Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman. "This is responsible governance and we applaud Governor DeSantis for his leadership on this and the Legislature for moving forward and passing these new maps," countered Evan Power, the Chair of the Florida Republican Party. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was a major advocate of the mid-decade redistricting, and is thus expected to sign the new map into law. It would take effect for the 2026 congressional elections. Still, the map will have to withstand inevitable legal challenges between now and then in order to impact the partisan makeup of the House next year.