Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office submitted a proposed congressional redistricting map to the Florida Legislature on Monday, asking lawmakers to adopt the plan during a special session set to begin Tuesday.
The proposal would alter districts across several major regions, including Northeast Florida, Central Florida, the Tampa Bay area and Southeast Florida. In Northeast Florida, Duval County would be split between District 4, which also would include Clay and Nassau counties, and District 5, which would include the rest of Duval and part of St. Johns County.
In Central Florida, Orange County would be divided among several districts. District 8 would pair Brevard County with part of Orange County, while District 9 would include portions of Orange, Osceola and Polk counties, along with several interior and Treasure Coast counties.
District 10 would be contained entirely within Orange County, and District 11 would include parts of Lake and Orange counties and all of Sumter County.
The Tampa Bay region also would be divided among multiple districts. District 12 would include parts of Hillsborough and Pasco counties; District 13 would include part of Pasco and most of Pinellas; District 14 would be contained within Hillsborough; and District 15 would combine Citrus, Hernando and portions of Hillsborough and Pasco. District 16 would include Manatee, DeSoto and Hardee counties, along with parts of Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties.
In Southeast Florida, the plan would redraw districts across Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. Districts 20, 23 and 27 would be contained entirely within Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade, respectively, while districts 24, 25, 26 and 28 would divide portions of Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Monroe counties.
A legal memorandum accompanying the map argues that the proposal was drawn without considering race and does not attempt to comply with race-related provisions of Florida’s Fair Districts Amendments. Those provisions bar districts from being drawn in a way that denies or diminishes the ability of racial or language minorities to elect candidates of their choice.
The Governor’s Office argues that those requirements compel the state to consider race in redistricting and conflict with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The memorandum also argues that the race-related provisions cannot be severed from the rest of the Fair Districts Amendments.
The submission was sent to Senate and House leaders and is being filed as SB 8D for consideration during the special session. Senate President Ben Albritton said the bill would be referred to the Senate Rules Committee on Tuesday, where the Governor’s Office is expected to present the map. He told senators to be prepared for floor consideration Wednesday.
The memorandum from DeSantis’ office also cites Florida’s population growth since the 2020 Census, saying the state added nearly 2 million residents as of July 1, 2025. It says the map attempts to account for growth around Tampa, Orlando and parts of the east coast, while still relying on 2020 Census data for district population totals.
“The people of Florida have been deprived of appropriate representation in the U.S. House of Representatives,” the Governor’s Office stated. “Despite substantial population growth since the 2010 census, which catapulted Florida to the third most populous state in the nation, Florida gained only one additional seat in the House after the 2020 census.”
Albritton told senators that any amendment must be filed as a complete alternative map because of equal-population requirements for congressional districts. He said senators seeking to file amendments should work with legislative redistricting staff because map drafting is technical and time-consuming.
