Redistricting moves made by the Florida Legislature this week mean Monroe County voters should expect to cast ballots for a different congressional representative.

Under voting maps nearing final approval by legislators, the Florida Keys apparently will fall within a new District 26, which moves Monroe County into a district with parts of western Miami-Dade County and eastern Collier County.

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Miami), who has represented Monroe County since 2002, will be based in a new District 27, centered around her Miami hometown and no longer including the Keys.

U.S. Rep. David Rivera, a first-term Republican, currently serves western Miami-Dade along with a chunk of the Everglades and eastern Collier County.

“Nothing is certain until the maps get final approval,” state Rep. Ron Saunders (D-Key West) said Friday from Tallahassee. “But that's the way it's looking right now.”

The Florida Senate in late January approved a state congressional redistricting plan that essentially left Ros-Lehtinen's district intact. However, in a compromise reached with the Florida House, the Senate agreed to congressional maps that would separate Monroe County from Ros-Lehtinen's district.

The House was expected to approve the maps Friday. Final action by the Senate is planned for this coming week and then the plans go to the governor and state Supreme Court for review.

Staff with Rivera's office said Friday that with final legal certification of the state redistricting boundary changes still months away. Rivera could not comment on any boundary changes.

His staff did say the Miami congressman “is quite sensitive to the environmental concerns raised by 1 / 8 offshore oil 3 / 8 drilling, particularly to environmentally sensitive areas such as the Florida Keys, an area he has visited often.”

Since his 2010 election, Rivera has faced investigations into his role with managing a pro-slots political campaign on behalf of the Flagler Dog Track while he served in the Florida House. Money paid by the dog track went to a marketing company run by two of Rivera's relatives. Track officials said they were dealing directly with Rivera.

Gov. Rick Scott has to decide whether to accept or veto the new districts and boundary changes. The U.S. Department of Justice also must approve the maps because of previous voting-rights violations in five Florida counties, including Monroe.

A legal challenge to the redistricting plan appears likely as groups including Fair Districts Now contend the maps do not meet requirements of Florida Constitution Amendments 5 and 6, passed by state voters in 2010.

Saunders said he intended to vote against the maps “because I don't believe they comply with 1 / 8Amendments 3 / 8 5 and 6.”

The measures — one covering legislative districts and the other congressional — require that voting districts be compact, contiguous and respect city and county boundaries when possible. And the boundary changes, which must be done to reflect population shifts revealed in the census, can't favor incumbent politicians or political parties.

Saunders noted that legally, Ros-Lehtinen could choose to seek re-election in the new District 26 (congressional representatives are not bound by residency requirements). Kim Sovia-Crandon, Ros-Lehtinen's Monroe County aide, said since the congresswoman's home and office are in Miami, it would seem highly unlikely for her to run outside her home district.

District 26, if finalized, basically has an eastern boundary that runs north along U.S. 1 to the district's northern boundary at U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail). The district includes 696,345 people, within the target range for U.S. congressional districts after the 2010 census.

Of voting-age people within the new district, about 374,000 are considered Hispanic, while 109,200 are white and 46,300 are black.

Ros-Lehtinen's current District 18 includes Miami and Miami-Dade's Atlantic Ocean coast, plus all of the Keys.