Gov. DeSantis pushes race-neutral redistricting map for April session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WINK)— The Executive Office of the Governor submitted a proposed congressional redistricting map to the Florida Legislature, urging lawmakers to adopt it during a special session scheduled to begin April 28.

According to the Executive Office of the Governor, Florida has been deprived of appropriate representation in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Despite substantial population growth since the 2010 census, which made Florida the third-most populous state, the state gained only one additional House seat after the 2020 census.

A post-census survey by the U.S. Census Bureau showed Florida was undercounted by more than 760,000 people. This undercount cost Florida at least one additional House seat.

The release argues that Florida's congressional representation has been distorted by racial considerations. 

The Fair Districts Amendments to the Florida Constitution, passed in 2010, require the Legislature to account for race when drawing congressional districts.

These race-based requirements supersede traditional redistricting criteria, such as compactness and existing political boundaries, whenever there is a conflict. 

In 2022, the Fair Districts Amendments' race-based requirements caused the Legislature to enact two versions of Congressional District 5. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed both maps on the ground they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Legislature eventually enacted the current congressional map with a race-neutral version of Congressional District 5. Parts of the existing map were drawn by the Executive Office of the Governor, and others by legislative staff.

These claws are a telltale sign of racial predominance and were used to create a majority-minority district to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The proposed map does not take race into consideration at all. Race was neither a predominant factor nor one of many factors, according to the press release.

The release argues the race-based requirements of the Fair Districts Amendments cannot satisfy strict scrutiny and are unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. 

The provisions lack a pre-enactment record that would justify a race-based remedy, lack temporal limits, and were not adopted under Congress's enforcement powers.

The proposed map redraws districts in southeast Florida that were affected by the Fair Districts Amendments' race-based requirements on race-neutral terms. Changes in this region affect other areas of the map.

Since the 2020 census, Florida's population has continued to grow, adding almost 2 million more residents as of July 1, 2025—an 8.9% increase. 

The most population growth occurred in outlying areas surrounding Tampa and Orlando, and north of Palm Beach County up the eastern coast.