Florida approves US House map meant to boost Republicans in midterms

The Florida legislature approved a new congressional map intended to maximize Republicans’ advantage in the state as part of the national redistricting battle that Donald Trump launched before this year’s midterms.The vote came just two days after the governor, Ron DeSantis, unveiled his proposal and the same day the US supreme court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The decision could make it harder for Democrats to challenge Republican efforts to redraw congressional districts in ways that limit the influence of voters of color.DeSantis’s map could increase Republicans’ advantage in Florida’s House delegation to 24 to four, up from the current split of 20 to eight. The potential four-seat gain is the same as what Virginia Democrats expect from a recent redistricting referendum, which is being challenged in state court there.Florida’s new districts are certain to face lawsuits as well, especially because the state constitution prohibits redistricting for explicitly partisan purposes. DeSantis and his aides believe those provisions will not be a legal barrier because they have been weakened previously by the Florida supreme court and again by Wednesday’s US supreme court ruling.The new map reshapes districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St Petersburg area and in south Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. The changes could cost the US representatives Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, among others, their seats.DeSantis and his aides said before and during the session that the new map is necessary to account for population growth in suburban and ex-urban areas since the 2020 census and to ensure Florida has a “race-neutral” congressional plan.The proposal presumed the outcome of the US supreme court’s Wednesday decision, which specifically struck down a Louisiana congressional district drawn for the electorate to be majority Black. Historically, Black voters have aligned more with Democrats, while a majority of white voters lean toward Republicans.The changes in Florida include the effective elimination of one nearly majority Black south Florida district that was represented by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Black Democrat, until her resignation earlier this month.There’s no guarantee that new maps across the country will play out the way the two parties hope. For example, Texas based its revised lines largely on Trump’s performance in 2024, redistributing the president’s voters across more districts to pull them into the Republican column. But Trump’s popularity has waned since his re-election, including among Latino voters, who figure prominently in the state.Florida could face a similar conundrum. Creating more majority-Republican districts could leave margins thin enough to allow for Democratic victories, especially if there is an anti-Trump backlash at the polls this year.Some Republicans have expressed worry about that possibility, and a handful voted against the measure in the Florida legislature.