WASHINGTON — While Texas House lawmakers fight over the redrawing of the electoral congressional districts map, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he thinks it would be good for Florida to start doing the same sooner rather than later.
The standard for the legislative map-making is every decade after the U.S. Census, which reports data every 10 years. DeSantis said the mid-century redrawing will help Floridians with underrepresentation in Congress.
“The population has shifted around Florida just since the Census was done in 2020,” DeSantis said.
There was a notable shift in state-to-state migration patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the most recent U.S. Census American Community Survey. The fight in Texas could be a sign of what’s to come in Florida.
Evan Power, the chair of the Republican Party of Florida, told The Hill that Florida was already “heading there” since the Florida Supreme Court upheld a map on July 17 that Florida Republicans supported.
“Texas can do it, the Free State of Florida can do it 10X better,” Florida Rep. Jimmy Patronis wrote on X.
Texas Democrats, the state’s minority party, said they were fighting Republican-led gerrymandering, the manipulation of electoral boundaries. Dozens left the state to prevent a vote in Austin since the Texas House needs two-thirds to be present.
“Halfway through the decade, deciding that you don’t like the potential results of the next election, so you go redraw lines to ensure your candidate can win is not normal,” Texas Rep. Ann Johnson, a Democrat, told CNN.
Republicans in Florida have to deal with the Fair District Amendments, provisions that the majority of voters added to the Florida Constitution in 2010 to prevent gerrymandering.
DeSantis said this likely conflicts with the U.S. Constitution. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering was not unconstitutional.
“I would just say stay tuned on that,” DeSantis recently said.
If the map weakens the representation of Black voters, there could be a Voting Rights Act violation. Texas Rep. Ana-María Rodríguez Ramos, the chair of the Texas legislative progressive caucus, and Florida Rep. Ron Reynolds told The Washington Post that the redistricting bill is racist.
“We are doing something that is completely legal,” Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican, told CNN.
Rexas Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat, said that doesn’t make it right, and this is why Democratic lawmakers will do everything they can to block Republicans.
“We really didn’t have a choice. We tried to negotiate ... we tried to talk to them ... we tried to reason with them. We tried to tell them that the public is very angry at what they’re doing, and they simply wouldn’t listen.” Wu told CNN.
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the next step is to try to remove the Democratic lawmakers from office if they don’t return. Texas House Republicans voted to issue civil arrest warrants.
Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, joined California Gov. Gavin Newsom and said she was going to try to draft one of her own. The move could disband independent redistricting commissions.
“The gloves are off, and I say bring it on,” Hochul told CNN. “All is fair in love and war.”
Texas Rep. Ramon Romero, Jr., told the Washington Post that President Donald Trump wants the states to redraw the maps before the 2026 midterm elections.
Related stories
- Texas governor threatens to remove Democrats who left state over Trump-backed redistricting
- Why dozens of Democrats left Texas and how Republicans want to punish them
- Texas dispute highlights nation’s long history of partisan gerrymandering. Is it legal?
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