TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Governor Ron DeSantis acknowledged Tuesday that next week’s special session on mid-decade redistricting may not begin on its scheduled April 20 start date — but he argued that the Legislature will pass a new map on congressional redistricting in the next “few weeks.”
“It’s possible you can make a little bit of a change, but you can’t really push it very far,” the Republican governor said at the time of Sessions during a bill signing ceremony held near the Tallahassee airport.
However, DeSantis ignored a question about whether he would give lawmakers a proposed map to work with once the session begins — a stance that adds uncertainty over how and when Florida will join other states that have rushed to redraw their congressional maps as part of an effort to tilt midterm control of the House.
The GOP-controlled state House and Senate have spent no time working on their own proposals, instead waiting for the DeSantis administration to move forward with the map — a move that could help protect the legislature from any potential lawsuits. Neither chamber has yet scheduled a meeting for next week.
DeSantis went out of his way to suppress any connection to the program changes being linked to the outcome of the referendum in Virginia. Voters in that state will decide next Tuesday — two days after Florida’s planned special session — whether to approve a proposal that could give Democrats up to four seats. Polls have shown that polling could be tight, and a defeat would reduce pressure on Republicans to act.
“I don’t know what the relevance of Virginia is to anything we’re doing,” said DeSantis, who added that a possible reason for the slight delay is the ongoing budget impasse between Florida’s House and Senate.
DeSantis made his comments a day after Republican Rep. Byron Donalds Said during a South Florida event that Republicans in Florida should consider moving to counter whatever might happen in Virginia. But the Florida Constitution prohibits redistricting for partisan gain, and any acknowledgment that the state is working to counter other states could be used in any future lawsuit.
Florida has been seen as the last redistricting hope for Republicans after months of tit-for-tat frenzy that have spawned referendums and legislative action in several blue and red states.
Some GOP consultants initially talked about picking up three to five Sunshine State seats, but that enthusiasm has cooled as the political environment has proven more challenging for Republicans. Some GOP members of Congress from Florida are worried the new map could cost them seats.
DeSantis first began calling a special session last summer, based on an impending U.S. Supreme Court decision that could prevent states from considering the racial makeup of the voting population when drafting districts. In January, DeSantis ordered an April special session to begin on April 20 and run through April 24.
But that decision has yet to come as the scheduled start of the special session nears. Earlier this month, DeSantis said that even if the court had not ruled by the time legislators met, it was still appropriate to move forward.
In 2022, DeSantis vetoed the congressional map proposed by the Legislature for the first time and pushed through the current configuration giving Republicans a 20–8 lead.
Interviews with multiple legislators from both parties over the past two weeks made it clear that they anticipate DeSantis may once again make the first move.
“We’re not talking about maps, I don’t know if there are any,” said state Senator Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples Republican and chair of the powerful Rules Committee, which would likely review any maps before a final Senate vote. “Like everyone else, I’m in the same boat of waiting and seeing.”
State Senator Don Gaetz, a Panhandle Republican who chaired the Senate Redistricting Committee in 2012, said he was not aware of any proposed maps.
“Certainly if the Governor has a proposal and rationale I would appreciate the opportunity to review it as quickly as is practical within the call for special session,” Gaetz said in a text message. “Any proposal has to be constitutional to get my support.”
