Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday said Florida may consider mid-decade redistricting in light of population shifts since the 2020 Census and a recent state Supreme Court ruling that upheld the state’s current congressional map.

Speaking during a press conference, DeSantis suggested that districts may no longer be properly apportioned given the scale of in-state migration over the last several years, adding that his administration is reviewing the court’s opinion for possible legal pathways to redraw the map ahead of the next census cycle.

“I think there’s ample justification to do it,” said the governor. “My guys are going through the court’s opinion to look at a different avenues, but I think that that’s definitely something that I certainly would look favorably upon.”

Gov. DeSantis’ comments come days after the Florida Supreme Court upheld the congressional map his office advanced in 2022.

In a 6-1 ruling, the state high court found that while the previous configuration of Florida’s Congressional District 5 allowed Black voters in North Florida to elect candidates of their choice, the state was not required to maintain that district because doing so would amount to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander under the U.S. Constitution.

The court determined that the only remedy proposed by the plaintiffs (a district joining Black populations in Duval, Leon, and Gadsden counties) relied too heavily on race in its design and failed to comply with traditional redistricting standards such as compactness.

Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, writing for the majority, stated that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment overrides the state’s Fair Districts Amendment when the two are in conflict and noted that the Legislature could not be compelled to adopt a racially motivated district in order to avoid diminishing minority voting power under state law.