FL GOP Slice Up Congressional Districts05/01 06:08

   

   TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- With President Donald Trump's poll numbers fading, 
beleaguered Florida Democrats hoped this year would be an opportunity to gain 
ground in the state.

   But now they're looking at the possibility of losing up to four U.S. House 
seats in the midterms because of a new congressional map passed this week by 
the Republican-controlled legislature.

   Gov. Ron DeSantis said redistricting will reflect Florida's population 
growth and political leanings. Democrats called it a power grab by Trump, who 
has been urging Republicans to redraw maps across the country.

   The changes use both "packing and cracking," the principal tools of 
gerrymandering. Packing involves concentrating like-minded voters into fewer 
districts, or into a single district, to minimize their overall impact across 
multiple districts. Cracking involves spreading like-minded voters across more 
districts, making it harder for them to influence any single district's 
election.

   Under the new lines, there are 24 districts where Trump won in 2024 by 
double digits, according to analysts from both parties. If Republicans win all 
of them, it will be a gain of four seats.

   Although there will almost certainly be legal challenges to the map, here's 
a look at how the new boundaries affect Florida's current Democratic-controlled 
districts.

   Cracking in Tampa Bay area could mean no Democratic seats

   Pinellas and Hillsborough counties were, not that long ago, regarded as two 
of the most populous swing counties in U.S. politics. Voters in and around 
Tampa and St. Petersburg served as a bellwether in presidential contests.

   Currently, the core metro area is split between the right-leaning district 
represented by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and the left-leaning district 
represented by Democratic Rep. Kathy Castor. The new map splits that into three 
districts, all of which tilt Republican, and Castor's seat now includes more 
conservative rural areas.

   She called the new designs "blatantly illegal" because of Florida's state 
constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering. But she said, "No matter how new 
districts are drawn, I will keep fighting for Tampa Bay families."

   Luna, a top Democratic target in November, picked up more Republican-leaning 
precincts, but Democrats in Washington said they could still win the seat given 
Trump's lagging popularity.

   Packing in Orlando turns two Democratic districts into one

   Right now, Democrats Darren Soto and Maxwell Frost have adjoining districts 
in and around Orlando, with Frost's concentrated in the city and Soto's 
covering Kissimmee and extending south and east over much of Osceola County.

   Now, the Orlando metro core will become a single district that is all but 
guaranteed to go Democratic. Meanwhile, other parts of Orlando will become part 
of a separate district that's more sprawling and more Republican.

   Frost blasted the design for pairing city residents with voters who live a 
two-hour drive away. "That's how hard DeSantis map-makers had to work to dilute 
the impact of voters in Orange County and make this district red," he said on 
social media.

   Soto, who is Puerto Rican and represents many Puerto Ricans now, lashed out 
at the governor.

   "DeSantis declared war against Florida's 1.3M Puerto Ricans," he wrote on 
social media. "We are American citizens, our people served and died for this 
country, and we vote."

   Heavily Black district erased to reorder south Florida seats

   The new map singles out a heavily Black south Florida district that had been 
represented by Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick before her recent resignation during 
a House ethics inquiry into her use of campaign funds. The district was drawn 
originally to comply with Voting Rights Act provisions that the U.S. Supreme 
Court effectively gutted on Wednesday.

   DeSantis described the district as an egregious race-based gerrymander, with 
most of it located inland while two arms stretched toward coastal Democratic 
areas.

   Now the district will essentially be erased, spread out across multiple 
districts.

   Frankel's and Moskowitz's districts scrambled in Palm Beach, Broward counties

   Reps. Lois Frankel and Jared Moskowitz currently have adjoining districts 
covering swaths of Palm Beach and Broward counties. Both lean slightly 
Democratic.

   The new map creates a more Democratic district anchored by West Palm Beach, 
mixing some of Frankel's voters and those formerly represented by 
Cherfilus-McCormick. It divides Moskowitz's current territory across three 
districts, a more difficult blow for his reelection prospects than Frankel 
would face.

   Parkland, where Moskowitz lives, will be in a more Republican district that 
reaches across the state to Naples. One of the national Republicans' top 
targets even before redistricting, Moskowitz has not said what district he will 
choose for a reelection bid.

   Wasserman-Schultz loses her district and Wilson's is redrawn

   Reps. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, a former Democratic National Committee 
chairwoman, and Frederica Wilson currently represent neighboring districts to 
the south of Frankel's and Moskowitz's pairing.

   Wasserman-Schultz has north Broward, including Weston, where she lives, 
along with Hollywood, Pembroke Pines and part of Miramar. Wilson, who lives in 
Miami Gardens, represents the second-most Democratic district on the outgoing 
map, with south Broward and parts of Miami-Dade.

   Now, there will be just one concentrated Democratic district in Miami-Dade, 
with Wilson in position to stay in office there. Between that new Miami-Dade 
district and Frankel's Palm Beach County base is a new heavily Democratic 
Broward district. Wasserman-Schultz does not live in that part of Broward. She 
will have to decide whether to run there or choose one of the new, more 
Republican districts that Moskowitz also is considering.

   Wasserman-Schultz has called the redraw "a nakedly partisan scheme" that 
"breaks state law."

   In a possible bright spot for Democrats nationally, the south Florida 
changes did not substantially bolster Republican Reps. Mara Elvira Salazar, 
who lives in Coral Gables, or Carlos Gimnez, another Miami-Dade lawmaker. 
Democrats plan to continue targeting them in this year's midterms.