Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has unveiled his highly anticipated congressional redistricting map on the heels of this week's special legislative session to redraw the state's congressional redistricting. Florida Republicans, who had a 20-8 congressional seat advantage over their Democratic counterparts, now sit on a 24-seat advantage over Democrats.
Gov. DeSantis first broke the news on The Floridian last December about his intentions to call for a special session and redrawing of the congressional districts.
Gov. DeSantis transmitted the map, a legal memo, and data points in a letter to both Senator Don Gaetz and Rep. Mike Redondo. Both Senator Gaetz and Rep. Redondo are heading up the redistricting efforts in the Florida Legislature.
From the looks of the map, all of the Republican lawmakers that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) has recently threatened to target if Gov. DeSantis and the Republican-led legislature draw Democrats out of certain offices appear to have been saved from the political chopping block.
"We will aggressively target for defeat Mario Díaz-Balart, Maria Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez, Kat Cammack, Anna Paulina Luna, Laurel Lee, Cory Mills and Brian Mast," said Leader Jeffries.
What does this mean for Democrats?
Remember, until the detailed county and city lines are figured into this proposed map, Democratic lawmakers do not know exactly where they will run, if they decide to run for reelection at all. They do have a better idea where they will run, but again, until the details are added to the map, all bets are off.
Reps. Kathy Castor and Darren Soto appear to have lost their Democratic-leaning districts.
Does this open the door for a potential Lt. Gov. Jay Collins run for Congress, if he decides to make an election-year switch and run in the new Republican district Rep. Castor currently represents?
In South Florida, DeSantis' map has gutted two seats, which could mean that Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Jared Moskowitz could be pitted against one another in the newly proposed CD 20. CD 20 looks to be a Broward County-centric district.
Rep. Frederica Wilson appears to be safe, but she may have to run against whoever was running to replace Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick in CD 24
Interestingly enough, it appears as if the old Broward/Palm Beach coastal congressional district has been redrawn. Depending on how Republican it leans, an opportunity for Rep. Moskowitz could exist if he runs for reelection in this district.
"Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since," DeSantis told Fox News Digital. "Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage. Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited."
"Our new map for 2026 makes good on my promise to conduct mid-decade redistricting, and it more fairly represents the makeup of Florida today," DeSantis added.
Game, Set, DeSantis!!
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