Every 10 years, states redraw the boundaries of their congressional districts to reflect new population counts from the census. The state gained a seat after the 2020 census. Florida’s new congressional map, drawn by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, likely gives the GOP an advantage in at least 18 out of 28 districts. Florida’s congressional delegation currently includes 16 Republicans.
A circuit court had previously blocked the map because the judge said it unconstitutionally disenfranchised minority voters by breaking up a north Florida district represented by Democrat Al Lawson, who is Black. The judge put in place a new court-ordered map that kept Lawson’s district intact. However, that decision was called unlawful by a state appeals court, and the DeSantis map was restored for the upcoming elections.
The DeSantis map was enacted after he had vetoed earlier boundaries drawn by the GOP-controlled legislature. DeSantis had insisted lawmakers send him a map that eliminated Lawson’s 5th Congressional District, which the governor said was an unconstitutional gerrymander because it stretched 150 miles to connect Black communities from Jacksonville to Tallahassee. DeSantis also wanted to shrink the percentage of Black voters in Florida’s 10th District, an Orlando-area seat represented by Rep. Val Demings, a Black Democrat who is now running for Senate. Republican legislative leaders balked at his requests but eventually caved to DeSantis and approved a map drawn by his office.
How the districts voted in 2020, by presidential vote margin in percentage points
Democratic
Competitive
Republican
Old map 27 districts
Change
Change in Democratic districts: -2-2D
Change in Competitive districts: 0
Change in Republican districts: 3+3R
New map 28 districts(+1)
How the new map shifts voting power by demographic
Florida gains a seat thanks to population growth recorded in the 2020 census. There are two additional White-majority districts and one additional Hispanic-majority district under DeSantis’ map. Controversially, the new map no longer includes a Black-majority district in the state, where Black residents represent 15% of the population.
Hispanic residents are still underrepresented under the new map — they represent the majority in 14% of districts but make up 26% of the state population overall. White residents are even more overrepresented than they had been under the previous lines. DeSantis’ new map sees White Floridians making up the majority in 68% of districts while representing 52% of the state population.
The group that represents the majority in each district
About the data
Sources: US Census Bureau, Edison Research, each state’s legislature or other redistricting authority, Voting and Election Science Team via Harvard University’s Dataverse
Methodology note: Vote margins for new congressional districts are determined by calculating precinct-level vote totals for each district. If a new district splits a precinct, block-level voting-age population is used to allocate that precinct’s votes to the new districts. Block-level demographic data from the 2020 census is reaggregated into each new district’s boundaries.
