Florida Republicans Oppose Redistricting, Break With Gov. DeSantis
“DeSantis doesn't care about us having a majority – DeSantis cares about DeSantis." – GOP Member of Congress
This past week, three news outlets reported that Florida Republicans, in the legislature and Congress, went on record to publicly break with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mid-decade redistricting push.
Punchbowl News reports that Florida GOP members of Congress are publicly warning Tallahassee lawmakers that an overly aggressive map could cost the party seats, not gain them.
POLITICO confirms the alarm runs deep enough that a group of Florida House Republicans privately convened to discuss their concerns.
Tampa Bay 28 reports that one Republican member of Congress, speaking on background, identified exactly what this is really about: “DeSantis doesn’t care about us having a majority – DeSantis cares about DeSantis. It’s about his 2028 campaign.”
Much of the concern comes after last Tuesday, when Democratic candidates flipped two Republican-held state legislative seats in Palm Beach and Hillsborough Counties, including a district Trump won by 11 points that contains his Mar-a-Lago estate, and a state senate seat Trump carried by seven points.
Regardless of the results, DeSantis is moving ahead with a special session on April 20, with no maps produced and no plan, to redraw Florida’s congressional lines and manufacture as many as five new GOP seats. Republican politicians are warning it will cost their party seats, weaken safe districts, and hand Democrats the midterm fight they’ve been waiting for.
A new poll from Emerson College, released today, found 56 percent of Floridians surveyed said redrawing the state’s congressional map was a bad idea. Nearly two-thirds of both Democrats and independents surveyed (65 and 64 percent) said it was a bad idea, along with 43 percent of Republicans.
Comment from Lauren Groh-Wargo, Fair Fight CEO: “What we are watching in Florida is a governor prioritizing his own political future over his party, his members, and the constitution of his own state. DeSantis is pushing an illegal, partisan power grab, in direct violation of Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, that Republicans on the ground are begging him to abandon.”
What Republicans Are Saying:
Anonymous GOP Member of Congress (Tampa Bay 28): “DeSantis doesn’t care about us having a majority — DeSantis cares about DeSantis. It’s about his 2028 campaign.”
Rep. Daniel Webster (R-FL) and former Florida House Speaker (Punchbowl News): “Don’t do it. I’ve said it from the beginning. I’ve been around enough reapportionments to know it’s a slippery slope.”
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) (Punchbowl News): “You could potentially do two [new GOP seats.] I think after that, you are really, really, really, really risking a very large overreach, which I think is in the Democrats’ best interest.”
Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-FL) (Punchbowl News): “They need to be really careful. They should look at what happened there. By trying to create more, you may end up with less.” He goes on to say, “we have lost ground with Hispanics due to what happened with immigration.”
Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) (POLITICO): “I think the Legislature needs to be very cognizant of the fact that if they get too aggressive… you could put incumbent members at risk.”
Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL) (POLITICO): “I don’t like this redistricting stuff.”
Anonymous Florida House Republican #2 (POLITICO): “We keep saying these are kind of one-off things that haven’t gone our way. But I’m not seeing any of the one-offs that are going our way [...] to talk as aggressively as some of what we’ve heard, there’s no way to get there without significantly weakening some districts.”
The dissent isn’t limited to Congress. In December, Florida Senate President Ben Albritton sent a formal memo to every senator and senate staffer telling them there was no redistricting work underway in the chamber. Albritton warned his own members in writing that drawing maps to favor a political party could put them under oath in court. Four months later, DeSantis is calling a special session to do exactly that in hopes a decision would provide legal cover for a remap.
What Democrats Are Saying:
Punchbowl News reports House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is already expanding their target races in Florida in response: “In our view, there probably are at least a half a dozen Florida Republicans, based on the results yesterday, who are vulnerable, and we’re taking a close look at going into their districts aggressively.” At minimum, Jeffries identified Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez, Maria Elvira Salazar, and Brian Mast as targets, and said an aggressive GOP map would create even more Democratic pickup opportunities.
Key Background:
Florida’s Fair Districts Amendments were passed by voters with 63% support in 2010 and explicitly prohibits drawing maps that favor a political party or incumbent. Under Article III, Section 20 of the Florida Constitution, it does not authorize partisan gerrymandering. DeSantis’ plan to redistrict hinges on Louisiana v Callais, a pending Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, and comes at the behest of Donald Trump, who called on Republicans to redraw maps last summer.
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Fair Fight Team
I guess a Democrat winning in Palm Beach made them stop and think a bit. If you look at Texas, of those five extra Republican seats, two are rated safe Republican, two are lean Democratic, and one, although now likely Republican, is going to be in play because it is so heavily Latino. In other words, Abbott may have actually cost them a seat. In California, on the other hand, all five are likely Democratic. No wonder the Florida crew is having second thoughts.
Yay!!!! I'm happy about this. : ) Thank You!