Democrats in Virginia celebrated for six days.
Then Ron DeSantis picked up a pen.
The Florida governor just dropped a proposed congressional map that dismantles four Democratic-held seats – and the special session to make it permanent starts tomorrow.
What the Map Actually Does
The DeSantis map doesn't nibble around the edges. It demolishes.
Kathy Castor's Tampa seat – Florida's 14th Congressional District – gets carved into several Republican-favoring pieces in a pinwheel pattern, eliminating one of the Democrats' most reliable seats in the state.
Darren Soto's Central Florida seat disappears into GOP-leaning territory.
Jared Moskowitz gets squeezed out of South Florida entirely, forced into a game of musical chairs with Lois Frankel, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Frederica Wilson – four Democrats competing for three remaining seats in the region.
And the two majority-Black districts in South Florida that legal experts long considered untouchable under the Voting Rights Act? Both dismantled.
If it passes, Florida's 28-seat delegation goes from 20 Republicans and 8 Democrats to 24 Republicans and 4 Democrats.
Why DeSantis Moved Today
The timing is not an accident.
Six days ago, Virginia Democrats won a ballot referendum handing them a map that flips the state's congressional delegation from 6-5 in their favor to a projected 10-1 advantage.
Supporters – including Obama and Hakeem Jeffries – poured more than $64 million into the campaign to get it across the finish line.
With that result, Democrats led the national redistricting seat count 10-to-9. Republicans needed to respond, and Florida was their last major opportunity.
"Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we've been fighting for fair representation ever since," DeSantis told Fox News. "Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage."
He's not wrong.
https://twitter.com/MizellPreston/status/2048767484321218801?s=20
Florida has added roughly a decade's worth of population growth in just three years, and the current maps were built for a state that no longer exists.
The Legal Playbook Democrats Are Already Running
Democrats are screaming about the Florida Fair Districts Amendment – a 2010 voter-approved provision that bans maps drawn with "intent" to favor a political party.
What they won't tell you: The Florida Supreme Court ruled in July 2025 that the Fair Districts Amendment does not require drawing majority-Black districts. The constitutional guardrail Democrats thought would protect those seats just evaporated.
There's also a U.S. Supreme Court case – Louisiana v. Callais – expected to rule this year on whether race can be a dominant factor in drawing congressional lines.
DeSantis is betting the ruling validates exactly what he's doing.
Marc Elias and his army of Democratic lawyers have already filed suit.
DeSantis' team will counter by invoking executive privilege to shield the mapmakers from depositions, burning court time until the election is over and the new lines are already in use.
https://twitter.com/77WABCradio/status/2048779054493442331?s=20
The Republican-controlled legislature isn't even pretending to deliberate.
"If we get a map from the governor, we will vote it out and go home," one Florida lawmaker told reporters. "It's his map. We're not getting deposed."
DeSantis Just Answered Jeffries
Jeffries flew into Florida earlier this week to taunt DeSantis – calling any new map a "DeSantis dummy-mander" and threatening to target Republican incumbents.
DeSantis was ready.
"'We're going to go after Florida.' Please, be my guest," DeSantis fired back. "I will pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign. I'll put you up in the Florida governor's mansion. We'll take you fishing."
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/2048790245722738868?s=20
That is not a man worried about legal challenges.
Florida Democrats are already bruised. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned her congressional seat this month after Congress began investigating her for allegedly funneling federal disaster aid money into her own campaign – and now that vacant seat sits at the center of a special session that could eliminate it entirely.
The special session starts tomorrow.
Expect it to be fast, loud, and over before Democrats finish filing their second injunction.
Sources:
- Ron DeSantis, statement to Fox News Digital, April 27, 2026.
- Jacob Ogles, "Gov. DeSantis releases proposed congressional map for Florida, could cut 4 Democratic seats," Florida Politics, April 27, 2026.
- "Ron DeSantis and Florida Republicans prepare for next round of 2026 redistricting fight," NBC News, April 26, 2026.
- "DeSantis unveils Florida map that could add 4 GOP House seats in 2026," Fox News, April 27, 2026.
- "Redistricting in Florida ahead of the 2026 elections," Ballotpedia, accessed April 27, 2026.
