Republican Governor Considers Redrawing Congressional Districts

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis floated the idea of redrawing the state’s congressional districts during a speaking event in Manatee County.

The Republican governor cited the state’s population growth.

“I also think the way the population has shifted around Florida – just since the census was done in 2020 – I think the state is malapportioned,” DeSantis said, according to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.

“So I do think it would be appropriate to do a redistricting here in the mid-decade,” he continued.

DeSantis’ comments follow a recent ruling in the Florida Supreme Court upholding the state’s new congressional district maps.

Florida Supreme Court Issues Ruling On State’s Congressional District Map

FOX 13 Tampa Bay has more:

Florida’s congressional delegation has 20 Republicans and eight Democrats. Redistricting typically happens once a decade after the U.S. census, which most recently occurred in 2020.

"Florida, you know, we got a raw deal in the census. We only got one seat. When some of these other states were getting seats – when we've obviously had more growth – we should have gotten at least two," DeSantis added.

His comments come as Republicans in Texas are also looking to redraw districts amid the Trump administration’s push to help the GOP keep its slim control of the U.S. House.

The state constitution directs the state legislature to redraw district boundaries every ten years around the census. The next census is in 2030.

"What redistricting means is that you reassess where boundaries are between districts based upon how and if the population shifts of a current state," USF political science professor J. Edwin Benton told FOX 13.

While a mid-decade re-map is rare, it’s not unprecedented.

The Florida Democratic Party accused DeSantis of attempting to "silence voters before the 2026 election."

"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 and stacking the court to uphold it, he wants to further gerrymander and suppress the vote of millions of Floridians. We have a federal census every ten years for a reason," a statement read.

"What DeSantis is doing is inappropriate. 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. If Ron DeSantis spent half as much time solving real problems as he does scheming to steal elections, maybe we wouldn’t be in the middle of a housing, insurance, and education crisis," it continued.

"Governor Ron DeSantis is seriously considering RE-DRAWING the Florida U.S. House map, which could give ANOTHER Republican seat in 2026, on top of Texas doing the same. This could dictate control of Congress. Whether Trump keeps the trifecta or not," Florida's Voice Assistant News Director Eric Daugherty commented.

🚨 HUGE NEWS: Governor Ron DeSantis is seriously considering RE-DRAWING the Florida U.S. House map, which could give ANOTHER Republican seat in 2026, on top of Texas doing the same.

This could dictate control of Congress. Whether Trump keeps the trifecta or not.

Do it. pic.twitter.com/xuG6c9QqVH

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 27, 2025

The Hill provided additional details:

DeSantis went on to say he believed that his state got a “raw deal” in the census when Florida only gained one congressional district, arguing that the state should have garnered at least two seats due to population growth.

The governor said he relayed his concerns to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick after he was sworn in earlier this year.

“They said they were going to redo the count in time for 2026,” the governor said. “They would have to do that relatively soon because you need time to draw maps and you need time to get that done.”

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Florida has seen an uptick in population growth following the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. A number of Democratic-held congressional seats could be impacted if redistricting were to take place, including those held in South Florida by Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Jared Moskowitz and Lois Frankel. Rep. Kathy Castor (D) in the Tampa area and Rep. Darren Soto (D) outside of Orlando have also been floated as possible targets.