On Tuesday the Florida Supreme Court rejected a bid to block a new congressional district map, keeping the redrawn districts in place for the 2026 midterm elections.
The court issued a 6-1 ruling and said the First District Court of Appeal should consider the merits of the case before this court weighs in. Equal Ground Education Fund and two other voting rights groups brought the challenge alleging the new districts were drawn to favor the Republican Party, and the First DCA did not grant a temporary injunction while the underlying case is pending.
"At this time, we do not have jurisdiction over that matter, and we do not simply assume that the First District's decision will provide an appropriate basis for this Court's review," the court ruling states.
Justice Jorge Labarga wrote a dissent arguing the court did have jurisdiction and criticizing the First DCA for not expediting review, noting that the qualifying deadline for U.S. House candidates ends Friday at noon and saying that left no time for the courts to rule on the merits before the elections are locked in place. Labarga was the lone member of the high court to dissent and is the only member who is not a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee. "For a second time in fewer than three years, in a substantively similar context, the district court has elected a path of delayed appellate review," Labarga wrote. "Only this time, the votes of even more Floridians are at stake."
Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed for a redrawn congressional map after President Donald Trump urged Republican-controlled states to pass new maps favoring the GOP ahead of the midterm elections; an aide for DeSantis drew the new map and handed it to the Republican-led Legislature, which passed it without any changes during an April special session. DeSantis has pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling released during the special session that undercut part of the Voting Rights Act and contends that ruling meant District 20 had to be redrawn.
Democrats and voting rights groups that brought the case alleged the new map is a blatant gerrymander violating the Fair District Amendment passed by voters in 2010 that prohibits drawing districts to favor or disfavor political parties; they noted DeSantis' aide, Jason Poreda, told lawmakers he drew the new map with partisan data and that DeSantis' office sent the map to Fox News with partisan coloring showing Republicans could flip up to four seats based on 2024 presidential voting patterns.
Justice Adam Tanenbaum wrote in a concurrence that "the people of Florida can rest assured that elections will take place this year—under a redistricting law and an election code enacted by their Legislature," and added that "the plaintiffs will have their days in court, in due course, to be heard on the merits of their challenge to the new redistricting law."
The new maps make 24 of Florida's 28 congressional seats GOP-leaning, though several of those districts are still expected to see competitive campaigns. Florida's House delegation currently includes 20 Republicans and eight Democrats.
"This is a travesty," said Genesis Robison, Equal Ground Florida's executive director.