Florida jumps into the national redistricting battle with a new gerrymandered map

Take that, Virginia.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled a reconfigured congressional map Monday that would likely erase all the gains Democrats thought they scored in Virginia when voters narrowly approved new district lines to eliminate nearly all the state’s Republican representation in Congress.

Facing Virginia’s four-seat gerrymander in favor of House Democrats, Mr. DeSantis counterpunched with a proposed Sunshine State congressional map that, if approved, would likely enable Republicans to win an additional four House seats in the midterm elections in November.

Florida’s new map draws the state into a nationwide partisan redistricting brawl that started in Texas and now includes more than half a dozen states that have redrawn congressional maps ahead of the midterms.

The mid-decade redistricting is unusual. Congressional maps are typically redrawn every decade after the U.S. census.

The new gerrymandered maps in Virginia and several other states are under court challenge.

The Virginia Supreme Court heard Monday from opponents of the state’s voter-approved House district map who argued that the state legislature violated the constitution when it placed the redistricting amendment before voters.

The case is one of five lawsuits challenging a state constitutional amendment approved in a referendum last week that allowed the Democratic-drawn map.

The new map would create just one Virginia district likely to elect a Republican.

“This proposed amendment is invalid for several reasons, any one of which is sufficient to invalidate the proposed amendment and require invalidation of the vote,” Thomas R. McCarthy, an attorney for Republican opponents of the map, argued before the seven-member panel.

A ruling in the case is expected within weeks.

Also on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court erased a lower court ruling that found Texas’ new congressional district map to be an illegal racial gerrymander.

Texas redrew its map last year at the urging of President Trump. A core goal of the redraw was to eliminate several seats crafted to give minorities extra voting consideration.

Republicans hope the map will net the party five additional seats in the state.

Redrawing voter maps for partisan purposes is illegal in Florida. Mr. DeSantis said his proposed district lines have nothing to do with politics.

In a letter to Republican leaders of the state Legislature, officials from the DeSantis administration urged state lawmakers to adopt the map. They argued that Floridians have been deprived of adequate representation in Congress because of mistakes in the 2020 census and the state’s significant population growth over the past decade.

The map pitched by Mr. DeSantis would likely give Florida Republicans an additional four seats in the House, neutralizing all of Virginia’s gains.

Mr. DeSantis calls for redrawing the 9th, 14th, 22nd and 25th districts, all carried by Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.

Currently, Florida’s 28 seats in the U.S. House are held by 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, with one seat vacant. The new configuration would likely lead to a 24-4 split in favor of Republicans.

“This proposed redistricting plan is race-neutral, complies with the U.S. Constitution, allocates equal population to each district, and is compact and contiguous,” David Axelman, general counsel to Mr. DeSantis, wrote to state lawmakers.

The Florida Legislature, controlled by Republicans, convenes in a special session Tuesday to begin considering the new map.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried accused Mr. DeSantis of gerrymandering congressional district lines to please Mr. Trump, who has called for Republican-led states to carve new maps to win in November.

“Ron DeSantis didn’t draw this map for Florida; he drew them for the only Floridian he cares about: Donald Trump. He would wilfully break the law and screw over the people of Florida for a morsel of relevance. Today’s map shows nothing but craven contempt for the voters,” Ms. Fried said.

The Washington Times has reached out to the governor.