Taking orders from Trump, Florida leaders push reckless redistricting idea | Opinion

President Donald Trump set Texas lawmakers on a blatantly partisan course of action to redraw the state’s congressional districts so Republicans can win more seats and keep control of the U.S. House next year. The political showdown this has created — with Democrats fleeing the state to stop a vote on the new maps — is exactly the type of political fight the president thrives in, but it ignores what’s truly best for voter representation.

In Florida, the state constitution prohibits elected officials from manipulating congressional maps for political gain. That’s for good reason: Voters should pick their members of Congress, not the other way around. Yet Gov. Ron DeSantis is already floating the idea of lawmakers redrawing districts, “this is obviously something that we’re looking at very seriously,” the Herald/Tampa Bay Times Tallahassee Bureau reported. On Thursday, Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, announced a mid-decade redistricting committee.

Redrawing the maps now would be unusual and wrong if it’s done for mere partisan gain. It’s been only three years since Florida lawmakers passed the latest maps, which already gave the GOP an advantage. The maps were drawn by DeSantis in an unusual move given that’s normally been the job of lawmakers.

The Legislature is not due to draw new seats until the 2030 U.S. Census is released, and Perez’s redistricting committee announcement smacks of an attempt to please the president.

One of Perez’s top lieutenants, Rep. Alex Andrade of Pensacola, told the Orlando Sentinel earlier this week that if the Legislature heeded the governor’s call to redraw the districts, “All we’d have as an impetus for this is partisanship.” It will be hard for the Legislature to sell this latest move as anything but, even though Perez is trying to avoid that impression.

Perez wrote in a memo that members of the House who have made statements about drawing congressional districts to benefit an incumbent or political party, or who have expressed the desire to run for Congress, will not be allowed to serve on the redistricting committee. He also noted that starting the process now will allow lawmakers to seek guidance from the Florida Supreme Court without “deferring those questions” until after the next decennial census.

Still, the timing of Perez’s announcement, just when Trump is rallying states to help him keep the U.S. House, looks suspicious. Although gerrymandering is an unfortunate American tradition, going back to Tallahassee with what appears to be marching orders to draw more GOP-leaning congressional seats would cross a line. It would also draw legal challenges, and the state might lose in court if lawmakers act with obvious partisan intent despite what they say on the record.

Building congressional maps to favor a party dilutes the voice of voters who are grouped into districts with the sole purpose of making a certain election outcome more likely.

If Republicans are afraid of losing the House in the 2026 midterms because of Trump and the passage of the unpopular One Big Beautiful Bill, rigging the system shouldn’t be the answer.

Perhaps foreseeing potential legal challenges, DeSantis has been careful not to explicitly say his goal is to help Trump and himself. Ending his tenure as governor with new congressional wins — or avoiding any losses in the Sunshine State — would be a bonus if he runs for president again in 2028.

DeSantis is raising concerns about the 2020 U.S. Census, which helped Florida get one extra congressional seat because of population growth. The U.S. Census Bureau later released a report showing that Florida was undercounted. Trump now wants a new Census that doesn’t count undocumented immigrants, even though the Census is designed to count every resident in the United States.

DeSantis refused requests that the state help with the 2020 count, saying he didn’t want to spend state dollars counting non-citizens. The count is used to decide how many seats each state gets in the 435-member U.S. House and to distribute federal funds, so Florida probably left a lot of money on the table by not trying harder to get everyone counted.

DeSantis’ ambition likely means he’ll continue to push for the redrawing of Florida’s congressional seats to help the GOP. It’s disappointing that lawmakers appear to be on board with this partisan exercise that ignores what’s best for voters. Florida doesn’t need to be Texas. Let’s spare ourselves that embarrassment and do what’s right.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This editorial has been updated to include new information about the creation of a mid-decade redistricting committee in Florida.

This story was originally published August 7, 2025 at 6:50 AM.