Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he expects the legislature to pass new congressional maps in the next couple of weeks.
“It’s possible you could do a little tweak, but you can’t really push it very far,” DeSantis said about the upcoming session on redistricting, which is supposed to begin April 30.
DeSantis has yet to provide legislators with a map to work on, while the state House and Senate have not spent any time on their own proposals, Politico reported.Neither chamber has scheduled any meetings yet for next week as they wait for a map from the DeSantis administration.
“We’re not talking about maps, I don’t know if there is one,” Republican state Sen. Kathleen Passidomo told Politico. “I’m in the same boat of wait and see like everyone else.”
State Sen. Don Gaetz, another Republican who worked on redistricting in 2012, told Politico he also wasn’t aware of any proposed maps.
“Of course if the governor has a proposal and accompanying rationale, I’d appreciate the opportunity to review it as soon as practical within the call of the special session,” Gaetz said. “To get my support, any proposal will have to be constitutional.”
DeSantis dismissed speculation Florida is waiting to see the results of a referendum in Virginia before it moves ahead with its new maps.
“I have no idea what the relevance of Virginia is to anything we’re doing,” said DeSantis.
Congressional districts in Florida that are redrawn to favor Republicans could carry big consequences for President Donald Trump’s plan to reshape districts in GOP-led states, which could give Republicans a shot at winning additional seats in the midterm elections and retaining control of the closely divided U.S. House.The special session is scheduled to run April 20-24.
After a cascade of redistricting efforts, Republicans believe they can win a combined nine more U.S. House seats in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio, while Democrats think they can win a total of six more seats in California and Utah. Virginia could give Democrats an extra four seats.
Efforts to redistrict in Kansas, Indiana, and Maryland failed.
