Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has announced that he and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier will collaborate on an effort to correct the 2020 U.S. Census potentially awarding Florida additional seats in the House of Representatives.
Gov. DeSantis released a statement claiming that the previous Biden Administration was aware that Florida’s 2020 Census data was incorrect and, as a result, the reapportionment was incorrect.
The governor continued, saying that his office alongside Uthmeier would “fix mistakes that have been identified in the aftermath of the 2020 Census.”Â
He also added that “We are working to secure supplemental action from the U.S. Census Bureau to update the 2020 Decennial Census Report, in line with the findings of the 2022 Post-Enumeration Survey for allocation of House seats and federal funding, and secure an award of additional seats in the U.S. House that will accurately reflect the population. Our mission is to secure Floridians’ due representation in Congress, and we will keep working to make it happen.”
Uthmeier, in his press conference, claimed that the “deep state” has attempted to give more electoral power to “blue sanctuary states” to stem the progression of deportation efforts of illegal immigrants.
“It's clear that there's been, for a long time now, a deep state effort to manipulate the census and shift electoral power to blue states, to sanctuary states. And as you see, a lot of Democrat leaders, engaging in hysteria over the deportation of people that are here illegally, many of these people, you know, who have committed very heinous crimes, it's clear that they are freaking out because they realize the jig is up,” he said.
Uthmeier also claimed that if the U.S. were “lawfully apportioned,” it would have 20 to 30 more congressional seats, and he praised President Donald Trump for “challenging the Constitution.”
“It's estimated that at least 20 to 30 congressional seats, electoral votes, perhaps would shift if we were truly apportioning based on lawful U.S. citizens. So we applaud President Trump for recognizing this problem, this challenge to our Constitution, to true electoral representation in this country. We're certainly going to do everything we can to help them get it right,” he stated.
If DeSantis and Uthmeier’s efforts come to fruition, Florida could see more congressional seats before the 2026 midterms.
