Ron DeSantis bragged for months about crushing Democrats with his 2022 congressional map.
Now he wants to do it again before the 2026 midterms.
But Ron DeSantis’ redistricting push just hit one roadblock that could blow up Trump's master plan.
Trump's redistricting pressure campaign faces Florida resistance
DeSantis announced he's calling a special session next spring to redraw Florida's congressional map for the second time in four years.
The governor told The Floridian he's targeting a March through May timeline to ram through new district lines.
Trump's been pressuring Republican governors across the country to gerrymander new maps that could net the GOP anywhere from three to five more House seats in the Sunshine State alone.
But there's a problem DeSantis didn't see coming.
Florida Senate President Ben Albritton isn't playing ball.
While House Speaker Daniel Perez already formed a special redistricting committee that meets this week, Albritton hasn't created any such panel in the Senate.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1995621809920565454?s=20
The Senate president met with DeSantis but only confirmed the governor wants a spring timeline.
That's not exactly a ringing endorsement.
State Senator Don Gaetz said he's unaware of any redistricting conversations happening in the Senate chamber.
DeSantis needs both chambers to pass new maps, and the Senate's cold shoulder could doom the entire effort.
Fair Districts amendment creates major legal hurdle
Florida's constitution specifically bans drawing districts to favor political parties or help incumbents.
Voters approved those Fair Districts amendments in 2010 precisely to stop politicians from rigging elections through gerrymandering.
"To be perfectly clear, in Florida, it's illegal and unconstitutional to draw districts to benefit one party over another," ACLU attorney Abdelilah Skhir said at a Capitol press conference.¹
Democrats are already promising lawsuits if Republicans move forward.
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell called any mid-decade redistricting effort "illegal" and said she hopes the Senate acts as a "backstop."²
DeSantis claims he's waiting on a Supreme Court decision about Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act that could impact Florida's maps.
That's the same excuse he used in 2022 when he vetoed the Legislature's congressional map and muscled through his own version that eliminated a Black-majority district stretching from Jacksonville to Tallahassee.
https://twitter.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1995631218013196693?s=20
The move cost Democrat Al Lawson his seat and gave Republicans a 20-8 advantage in Florida's congressional delegation.
Courts initially struck down DeSantis's 2022 map as unconstitutional, but the Florida Supreme Court ultimately upheld it in a 5-1 decision earlier this year.³
Now DeSantis wants to push even further.
Civil rights groups aren't buying the legal justification.
"The only reason this is happening is because Donald Trump wants to rig the 2026 midterms," Driskell stated.⁴
Trump's nationwide redistricting war hits resistance
Trump launched his mid-decade redistricting push back in July when he ordered Texas Governor Greg Abbott to redraw that state's map.
Texas Republicans passed new districts designed to give the GOP five more House seats.
A federal court just blocked that Texas map as an illegal racial gerrymander.⁵
Missouri and North Carolina followed Texas with their own Republican-friendly maps.
But Trump's pressure campaign has hit walls in multiple states.
Indiana Republicans refused to redistrict despite Trump personally attacking state senators who opposed new maps.
Kansas Republicans balked at eliminating their state's lone swing seat.
Nebraska couldn't get the two-thirds majority needed to pass new districts.
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/1989359987089350893?s=20
New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte flat-out rejected the idea.
California voters responded by approving their own Democratic gerrymander that could flip five GOP seats.
The national redistricting battle has turned into an all-out war with both parties trying to game the system before 2026.
Republicans control more state legislatures and theoretically have more opportunities to gerrymander favorable districts.
But Trump's ham-fisted pressure tactics are backfiring as even Republican lawmakers refuse to go along with nakedly partisan power grabs.
Florida represents Trump's best remaining chance to pick up multiple House seats through redistricting.
The state's population growth and Republican voter registration gains give DeSantis cover to argue the maps need updating.
But if the Florida Senate blocks the effort, Trump loses his biggest prize.
And that would be a stunning rebuke to a president who already looks increasingly weak heading into a challenging midterm environment.
DeSantis is gambling that he can ram through new maps before courts intervene and before voters punish Republicans for rigging the game.
The Senate's lukewarm response suggests not everyone in Tallahassee thinks that's a smart bet.
¹ Abdelilah Skhir, statement at Florida Capitol press conference, Spectrum News 13, December 2, 2025.
² Fentrice Driskell, quoted in "Florida becomes the GOP's biggest redistricting test," Politico, December 2, 2025.
³ Florida Supreme Court, Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute v. Secretary, Florida Department of State, Florida Politics, July 18, 2025.
⁴ Fentrice Driskell, quoted in "DeSantis plans to call special session on redistricting," The Hill, December 2, 2025.
⁵ Federal court ruling blocking Texas congressional map, NPR, November 18, 2025.
