Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday called for a special legislative session to consider redrawing the state's congressional map in April, fulfilling his promise to plunge into a national fight over redistricting mid-decade.
“Every Floridian deserves fair and constitutional representation,” DeSantis. said in the post on X. “This special session will take place after the regular legislative session, allowing the Legislature to first focus on pressing issues facing Floridians before devoting its full attention to congressional redistricting in April.”
DeSantis said the session will take place April 20-24, which coincides with the state's April 24 candidate filing deadline, although that could be pushed back. The Florida primary will be held in August.
DeSantis has made clear he wants to delay consideration of a new congressional map as long as possible pending a potential decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. it could weaken the Voting Rights Act and make it easier for Florida Republicans to create additional GOP-friendly districts.
Other Republicans in the state wanted to move forward sooner. Florida House lawmakers convened a brief committee hearing last month to formally the process of redistricting has begun in an attempt to resolve the issue during the next legislative session.
Republicans currently control 20 of Florida's 28 congressional districts and hope the new map will give them between three and five seats.
While several Republican- and Democratic-run states openly worked to strengthen their party during unusually aggressive mid-cycle redistricting, the Florida Constitution prohibits partisan gerrymandering. Creation A key hurdle lawmakers will have to overcome to pass a new map before this fall's midterm elections.
Redrawing of district boundaries usually occurs at the beginning of each decade after new census results are available. But President Donald Trump launched a national battle over redistricting last summer when he called on Republican-controlled states across the country to draw new maps to shore up the GOP's narrow House majority. Texas, MissouriAnd North Carolina all accepted the new Republican support cards.
Republicans have not yet been able to build as a reliable advantage as they initially hoped after California Democrats retaliated last year with a new map. Virginia Democrats also took steps to do the same this year.
And national Republicans were dealt a blow in December when the Indiana Senate rejected the redrawn map of Congress after months of pressure campaign.
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