The redistricting push to expand the narrow GOP advantage in the House of Representatives - and hopefully to allow the Republicans to maintain control of the House in the midterms - has spread to Florida. Governor Ron DeSantis, on Wednesday, announced a special session for April to propose a redistricting push. At present, 20 of Florida's 28 House districts are held by Republicans.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced a special legislative session, scheduled for April 20-24, to address redistricting.
The session will “take place after the regular legislative session, which will allow the Legislature to first focus on the pressing issues facing Floridians before devoting its full attention to congressional redistricting in April,” he posted on X.
“Every Florida resident deserves to be represented fairly and constitutionally,” he added.
The maps are typically redrawn at the beginning of each decade after Census results are released. But President Donald Trump has been pushing Republican-led states to redraw ahead of the midterms to boost the party’s chances of keeping its narrow majority in the U.S. House.
Florida is joining up with several other states, mostly Republican-run - but not all of them.
Texas, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have redrawn maps favoring Republicans. In California, Democrats responded with a new map, and Virginia Democrats have tried to do the same.
Republicans hold 20 of Florida's 28 congressional districts. The current deadline for candidates to file is April 24, although the date could be moved.
The Constitution gives states pretty wide latitude when it comes to how elections are conducted, but it also reserves for Congress the right to make some overarching rules. One of those may be in play in Florida, in the form of an upcoming Supreme Court decision.
Read More: Missouri’s Redistricting Fight Gets an Assist From…Disney’s ‘Air Bud’?!
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Depending on the decision, the Supreme Court may allow red and blue states alike to supercharge the process.
DeSantis, a Republican, wants to delay considering a new map in anticipation of a potential U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could weaken the Voting Rights Act and make it easier for states to add GOP-friendly districts.
Justices are currently considering whether Louisiana’s new congressional map, which created a second majority-Black district, complies with the U.S. constitution. It's not clear when a ruling will be issued this year.
Now, Democrats will point to this and shriek "gerrymandering!" The answer to that is simple: Look at Illinois, in particular, that blue state's Congressional Districts 13 and 17, which wander through the western part of that state like a couple of snakes coming out of hibernation and all still twisted together. The districts in the Chicago area wind around each other like a nest of worms. So, if national Democrats want to whine about gerrymandering, let them look to their own houses first, because they have way too much glass in their own home to be out there throwing stones.
Yes, that's "whataboutism," but it applies. Democrats complaining about Republican-controlled states setting up districts to benefit Republicans is the worst sort of hypocrisy.
The midterms, of course, are at the center of all this. The GOP must maintain control of the House. Governor DeSantis clearly understands this and is willing to do what he can to ensure this happens. If we lose the House, watch for a repeat of the 2020 Impeach-a-Palooza aimed at President Trump and any of his administration officials who draw the Democrats' wrath, along with every other cockamamie idea the woke Democrats can cook up.
If redistricting will prevent that, then let's do it.
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