Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed into law a newly-passed congressional map that gives his fellow Republicans four pickup opportunities in this fall’s midterm elections. A spokeswoman for DeSantis confirmed his action Monday after he posted a photo of the map on social media with the message: “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered.” The Republican-led legislature approved the new map in a special session last week, making Florida the latest state to redraw its congressional lines ahead of the midterms. And more are expected to follow with a flurry of Southern states weighing new maps in light of last week’s Supreme Court ruling that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act. Under Florida’s new map, Rep. Kathy Castor’s Tampa-area district and Rep. Darren Soto’s Orlando-area seat become significantly more favorable to Republicans, according to calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales. Additionally, fellow Democratic Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz both appear to have more difficult paths to reelection under the new lines. The Equal Ground Education Fund and 18 individual plaintiffs promptly filed a lawsuit challenging the new map Monday, arguing that it violates Florida’s Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibit partisan gerrymandering. Republicans have said that the recent Supreme Court ruling strengthens their argument that districts cannot be drawn specifically for minority voters as permitted under the Fair Districts Amendments. House Democratic leaders have said they’ll engage in several Florida races regardless of the lines, pointing to recent overperformances in special elections across the state. “Florida Republicans are blind to the wave headed for them in November and they will pay for aimlessly following their failed leader,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a Monday statement. Florida is the eighth state to enact a new map for the 2026 elections. This cycle’s redistricting push took off in Texas last year at President Donald Trump’s urging, and the Republican legislatures in Missouri and North Carolina followed suit. Republicans could also pick up seats in Ohio, where a new map was constitutionally required this cycle. Democrats are set to pick up seats in California and Virginia, where voters approved new maps in recent elections, although the Virginia Supreme Court is expected to soon weigh in on the process that set up last month’s referendum there. Democrats also have a pickup opportunity in Utah this year, after a legal challenge to the state’s House map resulted in a redraw.
