Florida‘s increasingly rare Democratic congressmen are in a tough spot after the state legislature approved new gerrymandered maps pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as Republicans look to hold on to control of the House in November.
The new congressional maps deliver Republicans four more seats, giving them a 24-4 advantage over Democrats heading into the 2026 midterm elections. Currently, there are 20 Republicans and seven Democrats in the House, with one seat vacant after former Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick resigned over allegations of campaign finance misconduct.
DeSantis has argued that the mid-decade redistricting was necessary to account for population growth in the state since the 2020 census and make sure that Florida’s districts are “race-neutral.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee decried the new maps, with Executive Director Julie Merz calling the move a “corrupt partisan power grab” that will be struck down by the courts.
Florida’s new maps are expected to be challenged in court, as Florida’s Constitution bars the drawing of districts with the intent to favor or disfavor a party. Florida’s approval of the new maps is only the latest in a nationwide redistricting battle that both parties have undertaken to boost their chances of winning the House in the November midterm elections.
Here are the Democratic incumbents on the chopping block if the new maps are upheld:
Darren Soto
Under the new DeSantis maps, Soto’s blue-leaning 9th District is dramatically reshaped.
As currently drawn, the district has a large Hispanic and Puerto Rican population, containing Orange, Osceola, and Polk counties, that voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris by 4 points in 2024 and reelected Soto by a 12.5-point margin.
But under the newly drawn map, the district would swing 21 points in Republicans’ favor and would have gone to Trump by 18 points, according to an analysis by the Cook Political Report.
Soto has railed against the Republican-led maps, claiming they are an “absolutely unlawful violation of the Florida Constitution” in a post on X.
In another post, Soto claimed that with the new maps, “DeSantis declared war against Florida’s 1.3M Puerto Ricans. We are American citizens, our people served and died for this country, and we vote.”
He continued, “This could blow up local and statewide races across Florida.”
Soto has not declared which seat he plans to run in under the new maps. The Washington Examiner has reached out to his office for comment.
The redistricting, if enacted, would mean that Rep. Maxwell Frost’s (D-FL) 10th District is the only safe blue seat in Central Florida.
Kathy Castor
Florida’s 14th District, which under the old maps included Hillsborough County and Pinellas County, voted for Harris by 8 points in 2024 and elected Castor by 15 points.
Under the redrawn lines, Trump would have won the district by 10 points in 2024, and Republicans have an 18-point advantage.
However, Castor announced on Friday that she intends to stay in her home district despite the shift.
“No matter how lines are drawn on a map, I will continue to fight to lower the cost of living and stand up for my Tampa Bay neighbors,” Castor said in a statement. “That’s why I remain committed to running for reelection in Florida’s 14th district.”
The Florida Democrat went on to call the maps “blatantly illegal,” citing the passage of the state’s Fair Districts Amendment, passed in 2010, that bars gerrymandering in favor of a political party or candidate.
Jared Moskowitz
Districts in South Florida are seeing some of the biggest shifts under the updated electoral map, with Moskowitz seeing his 23rd Congressional District shifted into a new 25th district.
Florida’s current 23rd District, containing parts of Broward County and Palm Beach County, barely swung in favor of Harris in the 2024 election by 2 points, with Moskowitz winning by 5 points. Under the new map, Trump would have won in 2024 by 9 points, and Republicans hold a 14-point advantage.
The Democrat, and former DeSantis appointee, told Axios that while he is definitely running for another term, he has not decided which district he is running in.
“I think there’s three districts I could choose,” Moskowitz told the outlet.
Cook Political Report’s Dave Wasserman told the Washington Examiner that Moskowitz could run in the newly drawn 22nd, 25th, or 23rd districts.
However, running in the 23rd District would likely mean he would be running against a fellow Democrat, Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL). Wasserman doubted Moskowitz would make that move, as the party would try to avoid a fight between members.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Wasserman Schultz is severely undercut by the state-passed maps, with her current 25th Congressional District getting “blown into smithereens,” according to the Cook Political Report’s Wasserman.
The 25th District was previously made up of Broward County, and was won by Harris by 5 points and elected Wasserman Schultz by 9 points.
But under the maps drawn by DeSantis, Wasserman Schultz’s home would be under the new red-leaning 22nd District, which stretches across Florida’s panhandle to the Gulf Coast. The newly drawn district swings toward Republicans by 16 points and would have elected Trump by 10 points.
Wasserman told the Washington Examiner that Wasserman Schultz could run in the 20th District, a seat recently vacated by Cherfilus-McCormick.
However, that race is packed in its own right with four Democrats jockeying to replace Cherfilus-McCormick, who has also signaled she plans to continue her 2026 campaign despite legal challenges.
Wasserman Schultz said in a post on X that the redistricting was a “clear effort to steal seats for Republicans” that “shows total contempt for Florida voters, who voted two-to-one in favor of a ban on partisan gerrymandering in our Constitution.”
The Florida Democrat has not announced her plans for the 2026 midterm elections. The Washington Examiner has reached out to her office for comment.
Florida’s passage of the gerrymandered maps follows voters approving gerrymandered maps in Virginia pushed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA).
FLORIDA LEGISLATURE PASSES DESANTIS’S REDISTRICTED MAP IN HOPES OF ADDING FOUR GOP HOUSE SEATS
A nationwide redistricting effort began after President Donald Trump pushed GOP-led states to redraw their congressional maps to help the party for the midterm elections. Besides Virginia and Florida, that has seen California and Texas redraw their maps as both parties battle for control of the House in November.
But this week’s Supreme Court landmark ruling in Louisiana v. Callais is set to shake up the congressional maps even more. The striking down of race-based redistricting in Louisiana has opened the door for multiple red states in the South, including Tennessee and Alabama, to move to redraw their own maps.