Florida Legislature Approves Congressional Map with 24 Republicans, 4 Democrats

The Florida Legislature approved a new congressional map on April 29, 2026, during a special session in Tallahassee, Florida, with the Senate voting 21-17 and the House 83-28 in favor. The map, proposed by Gov. S.

House delegation to 24 to 4 from the current 20 to 8, positioning the party to win four additional seats in the November 2026 midterm elections. S. Supreme Court rolled back a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

President Donald Trump launched a national redistricting battle ahead of the 2026 midterms, with Florida's action forming part of that effort. Gov. Ron DeSantis unveiled the map proposal on Fox News on April 27, 2026.

The special session opened on Tuesday morning, April 28, 2026. The new map reshapes districts in Democratic areas around Orlando, the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, and south Florida around Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami.

The changes could cost Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz their seats and include the effective elimination of one nearly majority Black south Florida district. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned from her seat earlier in April 2026.

U.S. House. Democratic State Rep. Angie Nixon marched up and down the aisle at the State Capitol with a bullhorn on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, to protest the redistricting bill.

Senate Rules Chair Kathleen Passidomo limited citizen speakers to 30 seconds each during a committee hearing on April 29, 2026. Deborah Courtney drove more than two hours from Jacksonville to speak at the hearing on April 29, 2026. All citizen speakers at the hearing expressed opposition to the redistricting on April 29, 2026, according to Deborah Courtney.

Rob Woods, a Black veteran, came from the Tampa area to speak at the hearing on April 29, 2026. DeSantis aide Jason Poreda took sole credit for drawing the map during the session on April 29, 2026. Jason Poreda examined party affiliation and voting patterns in drawing the map.

Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, sponsored the redistricting measure in the House. Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, sponsored the redistricting bill SB 8-D in the Senate. Gov. Ron DeSantis' second term expires in January 2027.

"Y’all are doing this because y’all’s daddy in the White House is injecting national political objectives into what should be a state-driven process," Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said before the House vote.

"Last time I checked, we’re the ones who were supposed to be drawing the map, and yet we are allowing y’all to continue to hold the water of the governor, who is a lame duck and just trying to figure out what his next job is going to be," Rep. Angie Nixon said. "Why are you doing this redistricting now?

I doubt that your phone have been ringing off the hook from your constituents going, hey, we need some new maps," Deborah Courtney said during the hearing. "It seems as if we are back in that period of Reconstruction, moving back to Jim Crow," Rob Woods said to senators. "I believe that there is a likelihood that that map will be upheld against legal challenge," Rep.

Jenna Persons-Mulicka said. "I cannot speak to the intent of the map drawer," Rep. "On destroying our democracy, they’ve been aligned, and that’s what we did here today," House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, D-Tampa, said.