Ron DeSantis proved in 2022 that Florida's so-called Fair Districts amendment is no match for a governor willing to fight back against racial gerrymandering.
Courts sided with him when leftist groups tried to preserve districts drawn purely based on race.
And Ron DeSantis just gave Trump the green light to crush these three Democrats in Florida.
DeSantis leads Florida into Trump's redistricting counteroffensive
Florida officially joined President Trump's nationwide redistricting push this month when the Republican-controlled state House held its first committee meeting on redrawing congressional maps.
The move positions Florida as Trump's potential ace in the hole after Indiana Republicans betrayed the party by rejecting redistricting in a stunning 31-19 vote.¹
Republicans are targeting between three and five additional seats in Florida's 28-member delegation, which currently splits 20-8 in favor of the GOP.
https://twitter.com/Varneyco/status/1997156977223344225?s=20
Democrats Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz should be sweating.²
DeSantis already proved he knows how to win this fight.
In 2022, he took the unprecedented step of vetoing the Republican legislature's congressional map because it preserved a sprawling district that stretched 200 miles connecting Black populations based purely on race.³
Democrat Al Lawson held that district, which DeSantis correctly identified as unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
"We are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based on the color of their skin," DeSantis promised at the time.⁴
DeSantis won the legal fight Democrats said he'd lose
Leftist groups like Black Voters Matter, the NAACP, and the League of Women Voters sued immediately, claiming DeSantis's map violated Florida's Fair Districts amendment.
A circuit court judge initially sided with the activists, ordering the map redrawn.⁵
But DeSantis appealed, and the Florida Supreme Court — which finally has a conservative majority thanks to his appointments — delivered the right verdict in July 2025.
Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz ruled that restoring the race-based district "would amount to impermissible racial gerrymandering" that violates the Constitution's equal protection guarantees.⁶
The Court found that drawing districts to connect far-flung Black communities purely because of their race is exactly what the Constitution prohibits.
https://twitter.com/RedLineReportt/status/1998911089577439390?s=20
"The record leaves no doubt that such a district would be race-predominant," Muñiz wrote in the majority opinion.⁷
Democrats lost that argument because they were wrong on the law and wrong on the Constitution.
The current map that gives Republicans a 20-8 advantage isn't gerrymandering — it's what happens when you draw districts based on geography and communities instead of skin color.
Trump's redistricting strategy faces GOP sabotage
Trump launched his nationwide redistricting push to counter Democrat schemes in states like California, where voters approved a gerrymandered map that hands Democrats five additional seats.
Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina answered Trump's call and passed new maps to level the playing field.⁸
Then Indiana Republicans stabbed Trump in the back.
https://twitter.com/dcexaminer/status/1998793571336421694?s=20
Twenty-one Republican state senators joined all 10 Democrats to reject a map that would have given the GOP two more House seats.⁹
That leaves Florida as Trump's best remaining opportunity to pick up the seats Republicans need to hold the House in 2026.
State House Speaker Daniel Perez insists his chamber isn't being pressured by Trump, telling reporters he hasn't had any "direct or indirect conversation" with the White House about redistricting.¹⁰
"I am not being pushed by outside forces to push redistricting," Perez said, claiming the House is responding to last summer's Florida Supreme Court decision that clarified redistricting standards.¹¹
But there's a catch — DeSantis and Senate President Ben Albritton want to wait until spring to act.¹²
DeSantis is playing chess while House Republicans want to play checkers.
The governor wants to delay until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a Louisiana case that could further weaken the Voting Rights Act's racial preferences.¹³
If the Court limits the use of race in redistricting — which it should — defending Florida's new map becomes even easier.
https://twitter.com/WellsJorda89710/status/1999871918560739458?s=20
"We are going to press this issue," DeSantis said in August about his redistricting plans.¹⁴
Democrats deploy racial grievance groups to fight back
The NAACP Okaloosa County Branch issued a statement opposing DeSantis's redistricting push, warning it "threatens to reverse decades of progress toward equal representation."¹⁵
Translation: Democrats are panicking that they might lose seats they've held through racial gerrymandering.
Genesis Robinson from the voter engagement group Equal Ground claimed drawing new maps "for partisan reasons is illegal."¹⁶
That's rich coming from activists who defended 200-mile districts drawn to connect Black voters purely because of their race.
During the first House redistricting committee meeting, Chairman Mike Redondo stated that Florida's redistricting won't be "directed by the work of other states or partisan gamesmanship."¹⁷
That statement drew loud laughs from progressive protesters who packed the hearing room.
They know exactly what's coming — and they're terrified.
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell trotted out the tired "doing Trump's bidding" talking point, claiming "the Legislature wants to do this because they want to satisfy Donald Trump."¹⁸
Democrats always cry foul when Republicans use the same redistricting tactics they've employed for decades.
California just proved Democrats have zero problem with partisan redistricting when it benefits them.
https://twitter.com/DavidMMcintosh/status/1999494501833023620?s=20
Florida holds the key to keeping the House
Trump's redistricting push suffered a major setback in Indiana, where Republican senators chose party suicide over party loyalty.
That makes Florida critical to maintaining Republican control of the House in 2026.
With Republicans holding just a 220-213 advantage and midterm elections historically favoring the opposition party, every seat matters.
DeSantis already proved in 2022 that he can beat the Democrats' racial gerrymandering schemes in court.
The Florida Supreme Court sided with him over voter-approved "Fair Districts" protections that Democrats claimed were untouchable.
Now he's positioning Florida to deliver Trump the House seats Republicans need while Indiana Republicans chose to hand ammunition to Democrats instead.
The only question is whether House Republicans will wait for DeSantis's spring timeline or force the issue during the January-March legislative session.
Either way, Democrats in South Florida's swing districts should start updating their resumes.
DeSantis is coming for their seats, and he's got the legal wins to prove he knows how to get it done.
¹ NPR, "In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan," December 11, 2025.
² Danielle Shockey, "Florida Jumps Into National Redistricting 'Arms Race' As GOP Eyes Major House Gains," Conservative Brief, December 6, 2025.
³ Aaron Navarro, "Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoes Congressional map in push for heavier GOP gerrymander," CBS News, March 30, 2022.
⁴ WJCT News, "DeSantis vetoes redistricting map over 'gerrymandered' district in North Florida," March 29, 2022.
⁵ NBC News, "Florida is appealing a judge's ruling that struck down a redistricting map pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis," September 8, 2023.
⁶ PBS News, "Florida Supreme Court upholds congressional map that eliminates a majority-Black district," July 17, 2025.
⁷ Ibid.
⁸ Axios, "Where every state stands on redistricting after critical blow to Trump agenda," December 13, 2025.
⁹ NPR, "In a setback for Trump, Indiana lawmakers defeat redistricting plan," December 11, 2025.
¹⁰ Gary Fineout, "Florida GOP House speaker insists White House is not pushing redistricting," Politico, December 10, 2025.
¹¹ Ibid.
¹² Ibid.
¹³ Caroline Vakil, "DeSantis plans to call special session on redistricting for next spring," Conservative Brief, December 2, 2025.
¹⁴ Ibid.
¹⁵ Staff Reports, "NAACP Pushes Back Against DeSantis Redistricting," Crestview News Bulletin, December 15, 2025.
¹⁶ Kate Payne, "Florida starts redistricting talks in a growing battle for House control in 2026 elections," Associated Press, December 4, 2025.
¹⁷ Washington Times, "In a growing battle for House control in 2026 elections, Florida starts redistricting talks," December 4, 2025.
¹⁸ Gary Fineout, "Florida GOP House speaker insists White House is not pushing redistricting," Politico, December 10, 2025.
