State lawmakers will be going back to Tallahassee in a few days to convene the 2026 legislative session, but Governor Ron DeSantis has already called for a special session toward the end of April to deal with re-districting. In an appearance in Steinhatchee, the governor says the U.S. Supreme Court needs to weigh in on the issue first....
"There's a U.S. Supreme Court case that's likely to say that racial gerrymandering is unconstitutional. We have a couple districts that has been thought that the Voting Rights Act mandates racial gerrymandering, so that's going to force it one way or another," said DeSantis.
The governor says the state's population has changed so much that everyone deserves equal representation in Congress.
Florida Democratic Party issuing a statement:
“This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to rig the system and silence voters before the 2026 election. Now, after gutting representation for Black Floridians just three years ago, Ron is hoping the decimation of the Voting Rights Act by Trump’s Supreme Court will allow him to further gerrymander and suppress the vote of millions of Floridians.
What DeSantis is doing is reckless, partisan, and opportunistic – all things Floridians said redistricting shouldn’t be in 2010 when they passed the Fair Districts Amendment. He’s not responding to population growth, he’s responding to polls. Because he knows the Republican party is on the verge of losing its grip.”
Senate Democratic Leader Lori Berman also issuing a statement:
“No matter what pretext the governor offers for mid-decade redistricting — and he has offered nearly half a dozen in an attempt to find one that sticks — what he wants the Legislature to do is clearly illegal. Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment strictly prohibits any maps from being drawn for partisan reasons, and regardless of any bluster from the governor’s office, the only reason we’re having this unprecedented conversation about drawing new maps is because Donald Trump demanded it.
“An overwhelming majority of Floridians voted in favor of the Fair Districts Amendment and their voices must be respected. The redistricting process is meant to serve the people, not the politicians.”