Florida Senate President Ben Albritton is pumping the brakes on Gov. Ron DeSantis's plan to call for a special legislative session from April 20th to 24th to change Florida's congressional map, stating there is no "ongoing work" for the plan in a memo to senators this week.
"As I’ve previously stated, there is no ongoing work regarding mid-decade redistricting taking place in the Senate at this time," Albritton wrote. "I’ll continue to monitor legal developments and will keep you updated."
Albritton added that the governor urged lawmakers to "wait as long as feasible before redrawing Florida’s congressional district boundaries in order to take advantage of any further guidance from the United States Supreme Court."
Gov. DeSantis announced his plan for congressional redistricting during a press conference this week. The move is pending a Supreme Court ruling, Louisiana v. Callais, on whether Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act violates the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, or racial gerrymandering, under the United States Constitution.
"We are going to do it in the later part of April, partially because there's a Supreme Court decision that's going to affect the validity of some of these districts nationwide, including some of the districts in the state of Florida," DeSantis noted at the time.
The decision could, in turn, affect Florida's plan for redistricting in the future. Congressional redistricting has been a major priority for the GOP as they look to maintain control of the House ahead of the 2026 midterms from Democrats.
Albritton's statement comes after his repeated call to wait on any plans by the governor.
Gov. DeSantis initially announced his plan for congressional redistricting in an exclusive interview with The Floridian in December.
A few months prior, House Speaker Daniel "Danny" Perez announced a select committee to redraw Florida's congressional map, which already favors state republicans. However, there is no word on whether Perez, who has had a frosty relationship with Gov. DeSantis in the past, will be on board with the current move.
