The Florida House is set to hold its first Congressional redistricting committee meeting this Thursday. It's the first step toward the Sunshine state joining a partisan mid-decade redistricting effort happening across the country.
Typically, Congressional redistricting happens after a census is conducted once each decade. Florida just went through a redistricting process in 2022. But nationally, a redistricting arms race is taking place ahead of the midterm elections as both parties hope to turn more seats in the U.S. House.
Evan Power is the Chair of the Republican Party of Florida. In November, he said redistricting is already underway in some Democrat-led states. He also accused other blue states' maps of being gerrymandered, or drawn specifically to favor one party over the other.
"It will end in two very partisan draws in red and blue states, I would imagine. But that's what they're trying to do in California. That's what they've done in Massachusetts, that's what they've done in New York, that's what they've done in Illinois," he said about the efforts in Florida.
Some Republican-led states, like Texas and Indiana, have also begun or completed mid-decade redistricting efforts.
Florida's more recent redistricting process faced heavy controversy when maps directly influenced by Governor Ron DeSantis helped flip three congressional seats in Florida. Now, Power thinks several more seats could be gained with a new map.
"Under redistricting. I think three to five is a reasonable expectation," he said.
Florida Democrats are calling the effort partisan. State House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said its happening in Florida due to political pressure from President Donald Trump and could run afoul of the state's fair districts amendment.
"Any attempt to draw new maps in Florida right now is a direct response to the President's pressure to stack the deck before the midterms, and that is illegal in Florida," she said.
The Fair Districts amendment, which passed in 2010, prohibits partisan gerrymandering in the state. Florida's Congressional delegation already has a 20 Republican to 8 Democrat split. Driskell said efforts to further influence that split isn't what voters wanted.
"This isn't something that the people ask for. This is just the swamp like cynical behavior that people hate about politics," she said.
Several groups, including the ACLU of Florida and the Southern Poverty Law Center, are throwing protests and other political action against the efforts at the Florida Capitol this week. However, so far no Republican state lawmakers have publicly opposed the redistricting effort, and it has been supported by legislative leadership and Governor Ron DeSantis.
Political forecasters are predicting that with maps as they are currently drawn, more seats currently held by Republicans are toss-ups. Efforts to redraw across the country could change that.
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