Ron DeSantis Endorses Redistricting Florida Before Next Census

At a press briefing, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) was asked if he might call a special session to consider redistricting.

Transcript

00:00Paying attention. All right, do we have any questions? Yes, ma'am. Are you thinking about

00:03planning on calling a special session to redraw our congressional maps ahead of next year?

00:09Well, so that's another issue on the redistricting. Um, you know, I had to veto their map a couple

00:15years ago, and I'm just like, guys, I'm going to veto it. And they did it, and Blaise stood with

00:19me, one of the few who was right. And so I vetoed this map, which was a disaster, and then we got

00:26a better map and got it done. And just last week, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the map that all

00:32the naysayers were saying was somehow defective. I think if you look at that Florida Supreme Court

00:37analysis, there may be more defects that need to be remedied apart from what we've already done.

00:44I also think the way the population has shifted around Florida just since the census was done in

00:492020, I think the state is malapportioned. So I do think it would be appropriate to do

00:55a redistricting here in the mid decade. So we're working through what that would look like. But I can

01:01tell you just look at how population has shifted in different parts of the state over a four or five

01:07year period. It's been really significant. I don't think you've seen in like, you'll look at like some of

01:12these congressional races, and like one district will get a certain number of votes and the other get like

01:17way more votes. And I'm thinking isn't this supposed to be a portion equally. I also would like the so you

01:23know, I talked with the Commerce Secretary right when he got sworn in. And you know, I told them Florida,

01:31you know, we got a raw deal in the census. We only got one seat. When some of these other states were

01:37getting seats when we've obviously had more growth, we should have gotten at least two. And so they said they

01:42were going to do redo the count in time for 2026. Now, they would have to do that relatively soon,

01:50because you need time to draw maps and you need time to get that done. But I think they should

01:56award Texas and Florida for sure at least one more seat. Because when Biden took over, we were we were

02:03supposed to get two seats in Florida, and we only got one Rhode Island was supposed to lose a seat.

02:09And guess who the Commerce Secretary under Biden was former governor of Rhode Island. Did Rhode Island

02:14end up losing a seat? No, they kept both so that we're malapportioned right now as a country, I think,

02:20because of the migration. And but the state of Florida, I think for sure. So I think there's ample

02:26justification to do it. My guys are going through the court's opinion to look at at different avenues.

02:32But I think that that's definitely something that would that I certainly would look favorably upon.

02:38All right. Thank you. God bless every