The Daily Populous Thursday April 30th, 2026 night edition
Authored by democracydocket.com and submitted by DemocracyDocket

The Florida House of Representatives has passed a new, aggressively gerrymandered congressional map, part of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) madcap dash to redistrict despite a voter-approved ban in the state constitution that prohibits partisan gerrymandering.

The new map could deliver up to four more Republican congressional seats in time for the 2026 midterm elections. The state Senate is expected to vote on it shortly.

The House voted 83-28 in favor of the new map Wednesday morning, amid what appeared to be jeers from the gallery.

The vote came just an hour after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling gutting the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law that restricted racial gerrymandering and racial discrimination in voting for more than fifty years.

The timing was remarkable: DeSantis’ redistricting plan was predicated on the expected Supreme Court ruling, despite the fact that it had not been issued when the legislature convened for a special session on redistricting.

After news of the ruling broke, the House voted down a proposal to recess for two hours to consider the decision’s implications.

Play Video Florida House votes against recessing to consider SCOTUS Callais decision.

The Florida legislature took up redistricting a week after voters in Virginia approved Democrats’ redistricting plan for that state. The Virginia map could turn four additional seats in Congress blue, but must first survive legal challenges in court.

Unlike in Virginia, Florida was not required to get voter approval to redistrict — and it didn’t. DeSantis revealed the map just a day before state House and Senate committees approved the new map.

Last year, President Donald Trump called on Republican-led states across the country to redraw their congressional maps to favor the GOP, setting off a national redistricting arms race in the runup to the 2026 midterms.

sneakysneakyhehehehe on April 29th, 2026 at 16:06 UTC »

Every blue state should just remove every red seat at this point since maga is going to do it. After this next election when the purple states all go blue they should gerrymander permanent majorities like the red states have done in places like ohio as well.

Outrageous_Space8083 on April 29th, 2026 at 15:47 UTC »

The coordinated efforts of fascists.

RadiantBeeees on April 29th, 2026 at 15:47 UTC »

Reminder that the Florida state constitution explicitly prohibits gerrymandering.