Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has spent the past seven years reshaping the Sunshine State’s politics.
After a razor-thin victory in the 2018 governor’s race, DeSantis turned the one-time swing state into a reliably Republican bastion — including a 2022 re-election victory that was the GOP’s biggest moment in a disappointing year.
And with one signature on Monday, he aimed to turn a red state even redder — in a timely boost for Republicans heading into the 2026 midterms.
DeSantis kicked off the work week by signing a congressional redistricting map approved by his state’s legislature last week, only hours after the Supreme Court’s landmark Louisiana v. Callais decision.
Signed, Sealed, and Delivered. pic.twitter.com/mKFQdQ2Xbo
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 4, 2026
“Signed, Sealed, and Delivered,” DeSantis wrote on X.
Under Florida’s current congressional districts, Republicans hold 20 House seats while Democrats hold eight. The new map makes it likely Republicans will pick up four seats and reduce the Democratic presence by the same number.
In the new map, the Democratic-dominated districts — three in South Florida and one in the central part of the state — are tiny islands of blue in a sea of red.
Florida House passes DeSantis-led redistricting map that may allow Republicans to gain up to 4 new seats. pic.twitter.com/oq8Hu4nz3L
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) April 29, 2026
DeSantis’ signature is the latest strike in the ongoing war over redistricting ahead of November’s midterms, which will determine the party that is in control of the House for President Donald Trump’s final two years in office.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that districts drawn on the basis of the race of their residents were unconstitutional, setting off a scramble in Southern states to redraw lines that could ultimately give Republicans enough of an edge to maintain — or even expand — their House majority.
FL Gov. @RonDeSantis has stuck a knife into the hope and dreams of the Florida Democratic Party by signing into law the newly passed congressional redistricting bill that gives Republicans a 24-4 majority in the lower chamber.
https://t.co/X7skzQnTMe pic.twitter.com/yWqivlnCsU
— The Floridian (@Floridianpress) May 4, 2026
The new map is already being challenged in court, according to Politico.
A group called Equal Ground Education Fund and 19 Florida voters — presumably not Republicans — have sued in state court arguing the map is unconstitutional under a state constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2010. That amendment bans district maps that are drawn to favor one party over another or deny racial or linguistic minorities an equal opportunity to engage in the political process, Politico reported.
In a statement, according to The Hill, the Florida Democratic Party vowed to use that amendment to fight the new map.
“Ron DeSantis and his allies are already trying to use today’s SCOTUS ruling as cover for their own illegal, partisan power grab. It will not work here,” the party said in a statement, The Hill reported.
However, according to Politico, DeSantis and his attorneys argued that a state Supreme Court decision last year paves the way for the 2010 amendment to be taken out of play.
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