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The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, defended this Monday his redistricting proposal for the 28 congressional districts of the state and denied that it has political motivations, arguing that it addresses demographic imbalances caused by Florida's population growth.
In an interview on the program "The Ingraham Angle," DeSantis stated that the initiative is "really independent of Virginia or any of those other things," referring to the redistricting movements in predominantly Democratic states.
"We have experienced a massive population boom. District 14, for example, had about 100,000 fewer votes than the adjacent District 12. The numbers justify it," stated the governor.
The proposed map, which is being discussed this week during a special session of the state legislature, would give Republicans a 24-4 advantage in Florida's congressional delegation, compared to the current 20-8.
The Democratic representation would be reduced from eight to four seats, retaining only District 10 and Districts 20, 23, and 24 in South Florida.
DeSantis also argued that the map eliminates a racially gerrymandered district in South Florida, continuing a stance he took in 2022 when he vetoed a map that would have created a minority access district in Duval County.
The governor also claims that the Fair Districts Amendment, approved by Florida voters in 2010 to prohibit partisan manipulation of districts, violates the equal protection clause of the federal Constitution.
The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, strongly rejected the plan, calling it "flagrantly illegal and bad political practice."
"Florida voters overwhelmingly approved the Fair Districts Amendment in 2010, which explicitly prohibits partisan gerrymandering. By targeting communities of color to intentionally dilute their voting power, DeSantis's map also clearly violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution," Jeffries stated.
DeSantis responded with a direct challenge to the Democratic leader: “Nothing would be better for Florida Republicans than for voters to see Hakeem Jeffries as the alternative. I welcome him to Florida.”
Warnings are not just coming from the Democratic side. Former advisor to George W. Bush, Karl Rove, warned about the risks of the strategy, noting that to create new favorable districts, Republican voters would have to be drawn out from safe seats, making them vulnerable.
An analysis by Republican consultant Alex Alvarado for the Civic Data and Research Institute concluded that aggressive redistricting would increase competitive seats from four to seven without providing any net gain for the Republicans.
The Republican congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Giménez, Greg Steube, and Daniel Webster fear that their safe seats may be at risk.
The initiative is part of a national redistribution war led by President Donald Trump, who reiterated on Sunday that Florida should change its map, especially after the referendum in Virginia that Trump denounced as a rigged election.
Florida would be the eighth state to modify its maps before the elections in November 2026, following Virginia, Utah, Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, California, and Texas.
DeSantis had previously linked the need for the special session to a pending Supreme Court ruling in the case of Louisiana v. Callais, which could invalidate access districts for minorities.
That ruling has not yet been issued, and the special session, which extends until May 1, continues nonetheless with the Republicans in a supermajority ready to approve the map without creating one of their own.
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