New York Democrats drew the most aggressive gerrymander in modern state history in 2022 – and a court threw it in the trash.
Now Debbie Wasserman Schultz doesn't know what district she lives in.
Ron DeSantis just showed Democrats what happens when the other side stops apologizing for winning.
What Happened Inside the Florida Legislature
DeSantis signed HB 1D into law Monday morning, redrawing 21 of Florida's 28 congressional districts to reflect where the state's people actually live now.
The map was drafted by the governor's own staff – built on the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, the 6-3 decision handed down last week declaring that race cannot be the predominant factor in drawing district lines.
DeSantis saw that ruling coming a year ago.
He called the special session in January, drafted the map in anticipation of the Court's decision, and had his legislature pass it 83-28 before Democrats could mount a real response.
Heritage Action called it a model for every Republican governor in America, praising the new lines for following population growth and real communities instead of, in their words, "racial engineering for the sake of political manipulation."
The Four Democrats Who Just Watched Their Careers Get Redrawn
The map targets four sitting Democrat incumbents: Kathy Castor of Tampa, Darren Soto of Orlando, and Lois Frankel and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of South Florida.
Wasserman Schultz – the former Democrat National Committee chair who spent years running the party's national strategy – now lives in a different district than the one she represents.
Her response on Friday was telling.
She announced she's running for reelection in 2026, then declined to say in which district.
"I will be running in a district where I have an opportunity," she told reporters after a press conference in Plantation.
That's a polished way of saying DeSantis scrambled her entire congressional career and she's still sorting out what's left of it.
She called the map "outrageous."
https://twitter.com/RealDonKeith/status/2050562841900429440?s=20
DeSantis called it "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered."
New York Democrats Tried This First – and Lost
Here's what makes Democrats' outrage impossible to take seriously.
In 2022, New York Democrats drew maps so aggressively that their own state's highest court threw them out – ruling the lines were designed to "discourage competition and favor Democrats."
A court-appointed special master redrew the districts.
Democrats lost seats they expected to hold.
The same party now screaming that Florida's redistricting is an assault on democracy spent 2022 packing Republicans out of New York with maps a judge called unconstitutional.
The difference is DeSantis built his map on firm legal ground from the start.
Louisiana v. Callais didn't just weaken the old race-based redistricting framework – it invalidated the racial protection provision of Florida's 2010 Fair Districts Amendment entirely, according to DeSantis's legal team.
The Florida Supreme Court – six of whose seven members are DeSantis appointees – had already upheld his 2022 redistricting map and struck down that same provision last year.
Democrats are taking their lawsuit to a court that already ruled against them.
This Is the National Playbook Now
Florida is the eighth state to complete mid-decade redistricting since Trump called on red states to act.
Texas moved first in 2025, picking up five seats.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2051332545841660356?s=20
Missouri and North Carolina followed.
Democrats responded in California and Virginia.
But Florida's math is what changes the House.
The state currently sends 20 Republicans and 8 Democrats to Congress.
After November, that could be 24-4.
Four seats, gone – not by defeating incumbents in fair fights, but by drawing districts that simply reflect the massive wave of conservatives who have moved to Florida since 2020.
DeSantis timed every piece of it – the special session in January, the Supreme Court ruling he predicted months in advance, the legislative vote the morning Callais came down, and the signature on Monday – to have the map locked in before June's candidate qualifying deadline.
Wasserman Schultz has represented South Florida since 2005.
She's still figuring out where she's allowed to run.
Sources:
- Michelle Vecerina, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered: DeSantis signs new congressional map," Florida Voice News, May 4, 2026.
- "A Florida Democrat Grabbed a Bullhorn on the Floor of the State House and Still Lost 83 to 28," DeSantis Daily, April 30, 2026.
- "Wasserman Schultz will run in 2026, not sure what district," WLRN, May 1, 2026.
- "Florida Legislature passes redistricting plan creating four additional GOP-leaning House seats," NBC News, April 29, 2026.
- Heritage Action for America, Statement on Florida Congressional Redistricting, May 2026.
- Supreme Court of the United States, Louisiana v. Callais, No. 24-109, decided April 29, 2026.
- "New York's top court rejects congressional maps drawn by Democrats," NPR, April 27, 2022.
