Florida Expected to Follow Texas GOP’s Lead on Mid-Decade Redistrict Power Grab 

Florida Republicans have opened the door to redrawing the state’s congressional map mid-decade — joining Texas and potentially other GOP-led states in a national push to secure more Republican House seats ahead of 2026.

Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez (R) announced Thursday the formation of a Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting that would begin reexamining the state’s current map, which holds 20 Republican and eight Democratic seats.

“There are national conversations ongoing in other states related to midterm redistricting,” Perez stated. “Exploring these questions now, at the mid-decade point, would potentially allow us to seek legal guidance from our supreme court without the uncertainty associated with deferring those questions until after the next decennial census and reapportionment.”

The announcement comes just weeks after the Florida Supreme Court rejected challenges to the state’s current GOP-drawn map, concluding that restoring a Black-performing district violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause and would be a racial gerrymander.

The ruling prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to declare, “This was always the constitutionally correct map. Both the federal courts and the FL Supreme Court have upheld it.”

Now, Perez is citing that ruling to justify opening the door to new changes, writing that the court’s decision “raises important and distinct questions” about how provisions in Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment (FDA), a citizen-led initiative passed in 2010, potentially conflict with federal law.  

The FDA explicitly prohibits drawing districts “with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.”

While the memo does not guarantee that Florida will redraw its map this year, it signals that Republicans are laying the groundwork to do just that. The committee is expected to begin work this fall during the Legislature’s interim weeks.

Florida’s move comes just as Texas Republicans push a controversial mid-decade redraw of their own that has triggered a walkout by Democratic lawmakers in the state and calls by the GOP to remove the protesting Democrats from office.

Red states face growing pressure from President Donald Trump and Republican leaders to redraw their maps in an attempt to expand, or at least maintain, the GOP’s control of the federal government at the expense of voters.