President Trump made shockwaves by pushing states to redraw congressional maps before the midterms.
Now the battle for control of Congress has entered its next phase.
And Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis just set one meeting that has Democrats in full panic.
Florida Republicans Schedule First Redistricting Meeting For December
Florida Republicans took the first concrete step toward redrawing congressional lines that could deliver five more House seats to the GOP.
The Florida House Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting quietly scheduled its inaugural meeting for December 4, marking the official start of an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting process.
Democrats went into immediate meltdown mode.
Miami Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost captured his party's panic perfectly.
"Trump and Congressional Republicans know they're on track to lose the House in 2026," Frost posted. "Florida is now the latest state where Republicans are admitting they can't win without cheating."
The meeting follows months of pressure from President Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have both argued Florida's current map no longer reflects the state's explosive growth.
"I think the state is malapportioned," DeSantis said in July. "So I do think it would be appropriate to do a redistricting here in the mid-decade."
https://twitter.com/MJTruthUltra/status/1953443754632737146?s=20
Democrats understand what's at stake.
Florida Republicans already hold a 20-8 advantage in the state's congressional delegation.
State GOP leaders believe a new map could flip five more seats to conservative hands.
Trump's National Strategy Takes Shape In Sunshine State
The Florida move is part of President Trump's broader strategy to secure House control in 2026.
Trump convinced Texas Republicans to pass a new map over the summer that could net the GOP five additional seats.
Missouri and North Carolina followed with their own redistricting efforts, adding one seat each for Republicans.
Now Florida is poised to become the biggest prize in Trump's redistricting offensive.
The stakes couldn't be higher for Trump's second term agenda.
Democrats need just three seats to flip the House and paralyze his legislative priorities.
That would hand subpoena power to House Democrats and potentially lead to another impeachment circus.
House Speaker Daniel Perez isn't apologizing for any of this.
Back in August, Perez announced the redistricting committee and didn't even try to hide what was happening. "There are national conversations ongoing in other states related to midterm redistricting," he wrote to House members.
Translation: Texas did it, so we're doing it too.
Florida's population has exploded since 2020, with hundreds of thousands fleeing blue state disasters for the Sunshine State.
Republicans dominate new voter registration, and conservatives have flooded into counties across the state.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1989406836081225813?s=20
The 2020 census counted 21.5 million Floridians, but DeSantis argues that number was severely undercounted.
"I talked with the Commerce Secretary right when he got sworn in and I told him, we got a raw deal on the Census," DeSantis explained. "We only got one seat when some of these other states were getting seats when we've obviously had more growth."
Democrats Scramble To Counter Republican Map-Drawing
Democrats aren't sitting still while Republicans redraw the electoral battlefield.
California voters approved a Democratic redistricting plan earlier this month that could flip five GOP seats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom led the charge, throwing massive resources behind Proposition 50.
The measure passed overwhelmingly, with Democrats framing it as necessary to counter Texas Republicans.
But the Trump administration isn't taking California's power grab lying down.
Attorney General Pam Bondi filed suit last week to block California's new maps.
"Governor Newsom's attempt to entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians will not stand," Bondi declared.
https://twitter.com/AGPamBondi/status/1989045790782763213?s=20
Virginia Democrats also launched a redistricting effort, though it faces more hurdles than California's plan.
The nationwide redistricting fight boils down to a simple calculation.
If Texas and Florida deliver ten additional Republican seats while California adds five for Democrats, Republicans maintain their advantage.
Add in Missouri, North Carolina, and potential moves in Indiana, Kansas, and Louisiana, and Republicans could gain as many as 12-15 seats just from redistricting.
That would give Trump enormous cushion heading into midterms that historically favor the opposition party.
The December 4 meeting will set the timeline for Florida's redistricting process.
Any new map needs approval from both chambers of the Legislature and the governor's signature.
Democrats will almost certainly file lawsuits challenging whatever map Republicans produce.
But with Florida's Supreme Court now firmly conservative thanks to DeSantis appointments, voting rights advocates worry the courts won't provide much help.
The court already upheld DeSantis's 2022 congressional map that eliminated a majority-Black district in North Florida.
That ruling essentially gutted Florida's Fair Districts amendments that voters approved in 2010 to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
Florida lawmakers have a narrow window to complete redistricting before candidate filing deadlines for the 2026 election.
The December meeting will determine if Republicans can pull off this high-stakes political maneuver before time runs out.
¹ Democracy Docket, "Florida Lawmakers Schedule Launch for Mid-Decade GOP Gerrymander," November 18, 2025.
² CBS News, "Florida could be next big target for Republican redistricting before 2026 elections," August 27, 2025.
³ Florida Phoenix, "'Stay tuned,' DeSantis says on mid-decade congressional redistricting plan," July 30, 2025.
⁴ CNN, "Trump Justice Department sues to stop California from redistricting to give Democrats more House seats," November 13, 2025.
⁵ NPR, "After California's vote to counter Trump, here's where redistricting stands," November 6, 2025.
