Florida's current congressional map favors Republicans.
The state sends 20 GOP Representatives to Washington, D.C., and only eight Democrats.
But the Florida House has created a committee to explore changing the map. House Speaker Daniel Perez named its 11 members on Monday; eight are Republicans.
Republican Rep. Mike Redondo of Miami will be its chairman. He's slated to become House speaker following the 2030 election.
The rest of the members are:
- Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville
- Rep. Kim Berfield, R-Clearwater
- Rep. Nan Cobb, R-Eustis
- Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach
- Rep. Patt Maney, R-Shalimar
- Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers
- Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton
- Rep. Bruce Antone, D-Orlando
- Rep. Kevin Chambliss, D-Homestead
- Rep. Johanna López, D-Orlando
Republican lawmakers have remained largely silent about what comes next. The Senate hasn't announced its plans.
The current, Republican-favoring map has faced legal challenges but has been kept in place by the courts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis strong armed that map through the Legislature following the start-of-the-decade U.S. Census count. But he, too, is urging unprecedented mid-decade redistricting.
Prodded by President Donald Trump, Texas created a congressional map adding five Republican-leaning seats. California passed its own map — which voters must approve — countering with five more Democrats.
Now other states are looking to take similar action in a political battle for the U.S. House majority.
Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell says that's the reason for the Florida committee.
"The only reason that this is happening right now is because Donald Trump and congressional Republican politicians know that they're in trouble in the midterms," she said.
"Please reach out to your representatives and to your state senators and let them know that you don't want to see this redistricting cycle, that you don't want to see the state gerrymandered any further than it already has been, and that instead you really want us to focus on affordability issues or whatever other issues are important to you," she continued.
Conservatives like DeSantis and Trump say they want a mid-decade Census count — which would likely result in more congressional seats for Florida and other Republican states — but it's unknown whether that can or will happen.
"We got a raw deal,” DeSantis said. “We only got one seat, when some of these other states were getting seats when we've obviously had more growth. We should have gotten at least two.”
Despite warnings of an undercount, Florida didn't set aside any money for outreach during the 2020 Census. California spent nearly $200 million.
Florida ended up with a substantial Census undercount, which reports show cost it congressional representation and federal dollars.
Regardless, Florida's House redistricting committee is supposed to start meeting this fall. The next legislative session officially begins on Jan. 13.
Advocacy groups are warning they will sue over a new map.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
