Tallahassee, Florida– Florida’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives will hold its first meeting of its select committee on congressional redistricting on Thursday, as the state becomes the latest to consider redrawing electoral maps amid a partisan battle on every edge in next year’s midterm elections.
It was a national wave of redistricting efforts Instigated by President Donald Trumpwho hopes to buck the historical trend of the president’s party losing seats in midterm elections, and his allies are betting that his home state could hand three to five additional seats to Republicans. Each seat is crucial, because Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to control the chamber.
But the push for redistricting faces major challenges in Florida because of that Bitter infighting between Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and leaders in the GOP-dominated Legislature, along with a provision in the state constitution that explicitly prohibits redrawing maps with the intent to “favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent.”
DeSantis has expressed support for redistricting and called for redistricting in 2020 United States CensusClaiming that the state of Florida was short-changed in the count, which determines the number of congressional seats each state gets.
“We will discuss this issue,” DeSantis said in August.
This week, in an interview with The Floridian website, DeSantis floated the possibility of calling lawmakers back in special session if they don’t go through the redistricting process in the regular session, scheduled for Jan. 13-March 13.
The state Senate has refused to wade into the fight so far.
Senate President Ben Alberton, also a Republican, said there is “no ongoing work” on the issue in his chamber, citing the governor’s desire to address the matter in the spring.
Civil liberties and voting rights organizations say any redistricting for partisan gain in Florida is unconstitutional, and their supporters plan to pack commission meetings to voice opposition.
“Redrawing lines for partisan reasons is illegal,” said Genesis Robinson, executive director of voter engagement organization Equal Ground. “It’s over.”
Florida holds 28 seats in Congress, with a split between Republicans and Democrats of 20 seats to 8.
Nationally, mid-session redistricting resulted in nine additional congressional seats that Republicans believe they can win and six additional seats that Democrats believe they can win. However, redistricting is being litigated in many states, and there is also no guarantee that parties will win the reappointed seats.
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Kate Payne is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America It is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.