The Florida Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the state’s congressional map, which was championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in 2022.
Activists argue the map violates the state constitution by not including a former black-majority district, which spanned much of the northern part of the state, in violation of the Fair Districts Amendment.
The court has given activists bringing the challenge until Feb. 28 to file their initial brief in the case. Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd will have 30 days after the brief is submitted to file a response.
The current map gives Republicans a 20-8 advantage in the congressional delegation. It was implemented after DeSantis pushed for the state legislature to pass a bill that did not include the previous black-majority district, which existed in the map in place prior to the 2020 census. The district stretched for much of the length of the northern part of the state, and DeSantis argued it was a racial gerrymander.
Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh ruled in September that the congressional map was unconstitutional under the Fair Districts Amendment, but a state appeals court reversed the lower court’s ruling in December.
The Florida Supreme Court found the congressional map installed beginning with the 2012 elections violated the Fair Districts Amendment of the state constitution, ordering certain districts to be redrawn in a 2015 decision, but previously declined to take a challenge to the current map in 2022.
If the Florida Supreme Court takes up the case and rules against the state, it would likely benefit Democrats in their bid to flip control of the House of Representatives.
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Other states have been facing similar legal challenges over congressional maps used in their 2022 election.
A decision in North Carolina to redraw its congressional map is likely to benefit the GOP in November, but court orders to add black-majority districts in Louisiana and Alabama are likely to cost the GOP seats. New York’s court-ordered redistricting process is also expected to benefit Democrats.