TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans approved a new congressional map Wednesday that could help the GOP pick up as many as four additional seats in the 2026 midterms, sending the mid-decade redraw to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it.
The DeSantis-backed plan now sets up an almost certain court fight over whether the map violates Florida’s Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibit congressional districts from being drawn to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.
WATCH: Florida GOP sends DeSantis new congressional map that could net Republicans 4 seats
Republicans defended the proposal as legally sound, arguing Florida needed to act after recent court rulings raised constitutional questions about districts drawn around racial voting blocs.
“I believe these are legally supportable maps,” Rep. Tom Fabricio, R-Miami Lakes, told reporters after the vote. “I believe we have data, and I believe that we've applied the data to the law, and I believe that these maps bear out.”
Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez, R-Doral, rejected suggestions lawmakers were pressured by President Donald Trump or the White House, even as Democrats argued the redraw was designed to help Republicans hold Congress.
“I have not received any phone calls or any text messages,” Rodriguez said. “I haven’t gotten anything from anybody, so I don’t have any pressure except whatever I decide I think is the best thing to do.”
The House sponsor, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, said the plan rests on a “strong and viable interpretation” of both the Florida and U.S. constitutions. But during floor questioning, she acknowledged no legislator drew the map and said she could not speak to the intent of the map drawer. In committee testimony, the EOG’s map drawer, Jason Poreda, said partisan data was used — a point Democrats and voting-rights groups are expected to focus on in court.
The governor’s office is already pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court’s new decision in Louisiana v. Callais. Attorneys argued in a letter to lawmakers that Florida cannot preserve the current districts, which were drawn with race in mind. Republicans say the ruling strengthens their case. Opponents say it does not erase Florida’s separate constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering.
Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola, pushed back when asked whether the map’s stronger Republican performance shows partisan intent.
“You got a crystal ball?” Andrade said. “You know how it’s going to perform in November?”
Democrats and voting-rights advocates called the GOP defense unconvincing. House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, called the map “an illegal partisan gerrymander” and said the process “reeks with a lack of transparency.”
“It’s all done in service of Donald Trump, not in service to the people of Florida,” Driskell said.
Common Cause Florida Executive Director Amy Keith said the Supreme Court’s Louisiana ruling does not change Florida’s authority to ban partisan gerrymandering.
“The decision that happened today from the Supreme Court has no bearing on the right of states to make partisan gerrymandering illegal in their states,” Keith said.
Ellen Freidin, CEO and general counsel for Fair Districts Now, said legal challenges are likely imminent once DeSantis signs the map. She argued the governor is trying to replace existing constitutional standards with his own legal theory.
“The governor decided what he wants the law to be, not what the law is,” Freidin said.
Those lawsuits could move quickly, potentially reaching the Florida Supreme Court before the 2026 elections. DeSantis has appointed six of the court’s seven justices.
Once signed, the map would take effect and reshape congressional races across the state, including in Tampa Bay and South Florida. National Democrats have vowed to invest in Florida, arguing the Republican redraw could backfire politically even if it survives in court.
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