DeSantis reveals new Florida map that could help GOP add 4 seats
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) revealed a new set of congressional lines Monday, with a map provided by his office to Fox News Digital appearing to show Republicans could gain as many as four seats depending on how voters vote.
Florida now has 20 Republicans and eight Democrats in the House, but this map could make it easier for the GOP to have a 24-4 advantage.
Dave Wasserman, senior editor and elections analyst for the nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report, said on social platform X that Florida Democratic Reps. Darren Soto, Kathy Castor, Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz were the most at risk from the new map.
However, he also noted that some of the newly created House districts might not be as safe for GOP candidates as DeSantis hopes.
Democrats are hoping to regain the House majority this fall amid public polling that shows President Trump and his party are in trouble.
“In a year like 2026, not all of the 24 seats would be safe for the GOP,” Wasserman said.
DeSantis argued to Fox that the current maps, despite the overwhelming 20-8 GOP majority, are not fair.
“Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,” DeSantis told the news outlet.
“Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage,” he added. “Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.”
Florida lawmakers are expected to convene Tuesday for a special session that includes redistricting. DeSantis has indicated he wants to redistrict ahead of November, noting that the Supreme Court has a pending case over the use of race in redistricting and suggested the state will ultimately have to address its own maps when that ruling comes.
The Supreme Court is expected to issue next opinions Wednesday and has not weighed in on the Voting Rights Act case yet.
DeSantis has also said that because the state’s population growth has changed rapidly since 2020, the state should be reapportioning its districts. However, lawmakers will only have the 2020 census numbers available for them to use when they draw a new map.
Most Republicans expected DeSantis might eye between one and three seats.
“This map is extremely aggressive, especially given how well Democrats have performed with Hispanic voters over the past 12 months. Many of these seats would likely rate as Lean or Likely Republican in 2026,” Zachary Donnini, head of data science at VoteHub, wrote on X . “For the gerrymander to break, Democrats would need to win five of them.”
While DeSantis has gone more aggressive than expected, he still faces a major hurdle — the state constitution has clear anti-gerrymandering language, and it’s unclear whether his map would avoid violating the Fair Districts language voters added to the constitution more than a decade ago.
Updated at 1:25 p.m. EDT
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