florida redistricting

Gov. Ron DeSantis is calling for a special session in April for Florida's legislature to redraw congressional districts. He announced this Wednesday, joining a trend among states redrawing districts mid-decade.

Florida is poised to join the wave of states debating how they might reshape congressional voting districts, as political parties grapple for an edge in next year’s midterm elections.

The Florida House is set to hold its first Congressional redistricting committee meeting this Thursday.

The survey, commissioned by Common Cause, a non-profit government watchdog group, found that 55% of Florida voters are against the move, with opposition spanning across the political spectrum.

The Republican-led panel could make Florida's Republican-favoring congressional map even more Republican.

The lawsuit, filed last year in federal court in Miami, is one of a series of legal battles stemming from the 2022 redistricting process.

Jessica Lowe-Minor, the president of the League of Women Voters of Florida is warning state legislators not to embark on a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan, saying it's unprecedented and goes against the 2010 “Fair Districts” constitutional amendment.

The Miami Republican’s announcement came as Texas Republicans have moved forward with a controversial mid-decade redistricting plan and as the White House has pressured other GOP-controlled states, including Florida, Missouri and South Carolina, to follow suit.

The Florida governor raised the possibility of further redistricting Thursday as Texas Republicans look to redraw districts amid a push by the Trump administration to help the GOP keep its slim control of the U.S. House.

The case centered on Congressional District 5, which in the past stretched from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee, and elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. During the 2022 redistricting process, DeSantis argued that keeping such a district would be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and successfully pressured lawmakers to overhaul the district.

An appeals court upheld the map, which plaintiffs say violated part of the constitutional amendment that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”

The case, which is expected to go to the Florida Supreme Court, centers on an overhaul of North Florida’s Congressional District 5, which in the past elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. Voting-rights groups and other plaintiffs argue that the overhaul violated part of the constitutional amendment, known as the Fair Districts Amendment, that barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.”