The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said Monday it's targeting Florida's 14th Congressional District, which is represented by longtime Democrat U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor in Tampa, and the open 22nd Congressional District seat in South Florida.
"Florida is ground zero for Republicans to grow our House majority in November," said NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole, in a statement.
"Floridians are sick of the radical extremism from Kathy Castor and her fellow out of touch Democrats, and voters in these Trump-won districts are ready to elect commonsense Republican leadership," O'Toole added.
The powerful NRCC, which helps the election of GOP candidates with financial support and other resources, has already targeting two other races: Florida's 9th Congressional District, held by U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, and Florida's 25th Congressional District, held by U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz.
The Florida Legislature, at the request of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, changed the congressional maps, giving Republicans a better chance to win four longtime Democratic seats
The new map reshaped districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St. Petersburg area and in South Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
In South Florida, the changes forced several Democrats — Moskowitz, Frankel and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz — to compete in other congressional districts more favorable to Democrats.
In a statement, Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the targeted seats were all changed to favor Republicans.
“It’s laughable that the NRCC’s new list is only in places where they had to gerrymander to make these seats competitive,” DCCC spokesperson Viet Shelton said in a statement. “Voters absolutely HATE the Republican scheme to rig the election as much as they hate the Republican economy. The truth is the GOP’s hamfisted redistricting efforts have created opportunities for Democrats to pick up seats on our way to win the midterms.”
Under the newly redrawn congressional districts, Florida's House delegation could place Republicans in a 24-4 advantage over Democrats. The current split is 20-8.
Opponents of redistricting challenged Florida's new maps, but last month the Florida Supreme Court allowed the updated U.S. House districts to be used in the midterm elections.
Under the new House map, 82% of voters in districts represented by Republicans remain in the same districts as under the previous map, said attorney Chris Shenton, who represented Common Cause and other groups challenging the map. Just 41% of voters in districts represented by Democrats are kept in their same districts, he said.
The court's decision marked another victory for the GOP in a nationwide redistricting effort aimed at helping the party retain its slim House majority.
U.S. House Republicans currently hold slim majority control over Democrats.
