DeSantis, Opponents Agree Congressional Map Violates Constitution
Governor and his opponents both acknowledge the new congressional districts violate state constitutional provisions against gerrymandering.
TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — Governor Ron DeSantis and groups challenging Florida’s new congressional map have found rare common ground, acknowledging the redistricting plan violates portions of the state Constitution while disagreeing fundamentally about the legal implications.
Both sides agree the DeSantis-drawn districts violate parts of Florida’s Constitution, but the governor argues those constitutional provisions are invalid. His challengers maintain the constitutional requirements remain legally binding.
Governor Claims Constitutional Amendments Are Void
“We believe the [Fair Districts Amendment] does not apply,” Mohammad Jazil, the governor’s top elections lawyer, told senators during a committee hearing last week. The administration argues Florida’s anti-gerrymandering amendments, overwhelmingly adopted by voters in 2010, are void because of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and a legal theory promoted by DeSantis.
The Fair Districts Amendments prohibit drawing congressional and legislative districts that favor or disfavor political parties or incumbents. The constitutional provisions were designed to prevent gerrymandering in Florida.
Multiple Challenges to Partisan Map
The controversy centers on the partisan nature of the redrawn districts. Several factors have drawn criticism and sparked litigation against the new congressional map:
- A mysteriously colored red-and-blue proposal leaked to Fox News
- Four additional Republican seats created by the redistricting
- The sole map-maker’s admission to employing partisan data in the drawing process
- The map’s origins from President Trump’s partisan call for mid-decade redistricting
The unusual mid-decade redistricting effort began when Trump told Texas Republicans to redraw their congressional map, hoping to increase the Republican Party’s slim congressional majority. This sparked similar redistricting debates in other states.
Legal Battles and Legislative Hesitation
The dispute has generated an explosion of litigation challenging the new map’s legality. Multiple lawsuits have been filed against the redistricting plan, with plaintiffs arguing the governor cannot simply declare constitutional amendments invalid.
Republican lawmakers have shown hesitation about the governor’s approach. The agreement between DeSantis’s office and the groups opposing him that Florida’s Constitution is being violated has created an unusual dynamic in the legal proceedings.
The map-making process involved only one person creating the districts, who has acknowledged using partisan political data in drawing the boundaries. This admission has become central to legal challenges arguing the redistricting violates the Fair Districts Amendments’ prohibition on partisan gerrymandering.
Legal experts say the case could have broader implications for how states interpret their own constitutional provisions and whether governors can unilaterally declare voter-approved amendments invalid based on federal court rulings.
