Ron DeSantis watched Texas and California turn redistricting into a full-blown war for House control.
Now Florida's jumping into the fight with both feet.
And Ron DeSantis just announced one move that could hand Republicans the House in 2026.
DeSantis calls special session to redraw Florida's congressional map
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced he's calling a special legislative session next spring to redraw the state's congressional districts.¹
The timing isn't coincidental.
DeSantis told Floridian publisher Javier Manjarres that Florida's waiting on a Supreme Court decision about Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that directly impacts the state's maps.¹
"Yeah, yeah, so we're going to redistrict," DeSantis said. "The issue is that there is a Supreme Court decision that we are waiting on — the argument in October about Section 2 of the VRA [Voting Rights Act] that impacts Florida's maps, so we're going to do it next Spring."¹
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DeSantis added he'll work with Senate President Ben Albritton to schedule the session somewhere between March and May 2026.¹
Florida House Speaker Danny Perez already set up a Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting back in September with 11 members — seven Republicans and three Democrats.²
Their first meeting is scheduled for December 4.²
The Supreme Court heard arguments in October in Louisiana v. Callais, a case that could fundamentally reshape how states draw district lines to comply with the Voting Rights Act.
If the Court loosens restrictions on Section 2, states would have more freedom to redraw maps without worrying about challenges over minority voting power.
That's exactly the opening DeSantis needs.
Florida enters national redistricting arms race
Texas kicked off this whole mess when Governor Greg Abbott pushed through new congressional maps designed to flip five Democratic seats Republican.³
Abbott claimed he had to act after the Justice Department sent Texas a letter saying their 2021 map violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting minority voting power in four districts.⁴
California Democrats fired back hard.
Governor Gavin Newsom convinced voters to pass Proposition 50 in November, which could hand Democrats five more House seats by redrawing California's map.⁵
A federal court blocked Texas's new map last month, ruling it amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.⁶
But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately appealed to the Supreme Court, and Justice Samuel Alito temporarily reinstated the Republican map while the Court decides whether to hear the case.⁷
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DeSantis isn't waiting around to see how this plays out.
Florida gained a 28th congressional seat after the 2020 census, and Republicans currently hold 20 of those seats.⁸
The current map already favors Republicans heavily after DeSantis forced through his own redistricting plan in 2022 that eliminated former Democrat Al Lawson's majority-Black district in north Florida.⁹
That map survived multiple legal challenges when Florida's Supreme Court declined to strike it down.¹⁰
Now DeSantis wants to push things even further.
Supreme Court ruling could reshape entire redistricting battle
The stakes go way beyond Florida.
Republicans control more state legislatures than Democrats, which gives them more opportunities to redraw favorable maps.
Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio are all considering Republican redistricting plans.¹¹
Democrats have fewer options because many blue states installed independent redistricting commissions that take the process out of politicians' hands.
That's why California had to put Proposition 50 on the ballot — to bypass their own commission.
Illinois, Maryland, and Virginia Democrats are exploring redistricting, but face more legal hurdles than Republicans in red states.¹²
The Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais won't affect the 2026 battlefield directly.
But it could fundamentally reorder congressional maps starting in 2028 and reshape the racial makeup of Congress for the next decade.¹³
If the Court guts Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, at least a dozen minority-majority districts in the South would disappear.¹⁴
That would be catastrophic for Democrats since those districts currently elect their most reliable supporters.
For Republicans, weakening Section 2 removes one of the biggest legal obstacles to aggressive redistricting.
DeSantis already proved in 2022 he's willing to blow up Black-held districts when he vetoed the legislature's original map and forced them to pass his version that eliminated Lawson's seat.
A more favorable Supreme Court ruling would give him even more room to operate.
Republicans currently hold a narrow 220-215 majority in the House.
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Democrats need to flip just three seats to take back control in 2026.
If Republicans can execute successful redistricting plans in Florida, Texas, Indiana, Missouri, and Ohio, they could pad their majority by up to nine seats — making a Democratic takeover virtually impossible.¹⁵
But if Texas's map stays blocked and California's goes through, Democrats could actually flip the script and pick up a net gain of seats through redistricting alone.¹⁶
The Supreme Court holds all the cards.
Their decision on whether to hear Texas's appeal and how they rule in the Louisiana case will determine which party can redraw maps with impunity heading into the critical 2026 midterms.
DeSantis just made clear Florida's ready to capitalize the moment the Court gives Republicans the green light.
¹ Michael Costeines, "DeSantis Calls for Special Legislative Session on Congressional Redistricting," The Floridian, December 1, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Blaise Gainey and Andrew Schneider, "Texas appeals ruling that Trump-urged voting map is racial gerrymandering," NPR, November 18, 2025.
⁴ Ibid.
⁵ Maggie Astor, "After California's vote to counter Trump, here's where redistricting stands," NPR, November 6, 2025.
⁶ Gabby Birenbaum, "Texas court erases GOP edge in national redistricting battle," The Texas Tribune, November 19, 2025.
⁷ Andrew J. Tobias, "Supreme Court poised to reshape next 3 election cycles," Axios, November 26, 2025.
⁸ CNN Politics, "Florida redistricting 2022: Congressional maps by district," CNN, November 8, 2022.
⁹ Ibid.
¹⁰ Ballotpedia, "Redistricting in Florida after the 2020 census," accessed December 2, 2025.
¹¹ John Parkinson, "Redistricting arms race: These are the states in addition to Texas and California where parties could redraw maps," ABC News, August 25, 2025.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Andrew J. Tobias, "Supreme Court poised to reshape next 3 election cycles," Axios, November 26, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Maggie Astor, "After California's vote to counter Trump, here's where redistricting stands," NPR, November 6, 2025.
¹⁶ Gabby Birenbaum, "Texas court erases GOP edge in national redistricting battle," The Texas Tribune, November 19, 2025.
