How DeSantis took over Florida congressional redistricting to eliminate minority districts

The essence, President Franklin D. Roosevelt said of fascism is "ownership of Government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." As we further examine the tenure of Ron DeSantis and his inexorable creep towards fascist rule in Florida, this year's redistricting process offers a window into the ways that DeSantis is seizing power from his own political party in the legislature, only to weaponize it to eliminate Democrats - particularly in minority districts - from Congress. 

Redistricting in Florida, the process by which State House, State Senate and Congressional districts are drawn every ten years after the census, is a process constitutionally assigned to the Florida legislature. The House and Senate draw their own district maps, and they collaborate over the drawing of congressional districts. The Governor can either sign or veto maps sent to him by the legislature, but that is the Governor's only constitutional authority.

That changed in 2022. To be clear, the Florida constitution did not change. What changed is that DeSantis steamrolled the Florida Senate into acquiescence using political intimidation, further consolidating his hold on Republican power in this state and the country. The further result of this power grab is - and we will see it fully next week - a congressional delegation with fewer Democrats, and the specific elimination of one of the state's African-American congressional districts. 

DeSantis' plan for Florida's congressional districts was, as Joshua Kaplan wrote for ProPublica, "so aggressive that the Republican-controlled legislature balked and fought DeSantis for months." Indeed, according to analysis from FiveThirtyEight, after picking up one additional congressional seat as a result of Florida's population increase, Florida now has four additional Republican-leaning seats, three fewer competitive seats, and has entirely eliminated a minority-access seat in North Florida (currently held by African-American Rep. Al Lawson, who is seeking re-election in the new, R+16, 2nd congressional district).    

DeSantis released his congressional maps on January 16th of this year the day before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the symbolism of which was not lost on observers like African-American Democrat, State Senator Shevrin Jones, who called the maps “unconstitutional” and said they would “dilute black representation in Florida”, while noting the additional insult of the map’s timing. Rep. Al Lawson, whose district was targeted for elimination in the Governor’s map, said the maps were, “an assault on the rights of Black and minority voters.”

Initially, at least, the Republican-controlled Florida Senate pushed back on DeSantis’ plan, and passed their own map that kept districts largely in place while adding one extra Republican-leaning district. But DeSantis was unbowed, and tried to halt the process by asking the (conservative, Republican-appointed) Supreme Court to weigh in preemptively on his request.

DeSantis ultimately needed the total submission of the Florida Senate to go along with his plans – and he didn’t get it during the regular legislative session, although he got literally every other legislative priority in course. So DeSantis vetoed the legislature’s maps, setting up a special legislative session, but also setting up a legal battle that could overturn the Voting Rights Act at the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Meanwhile, the Governor used his political machine to – as if from nowhere – prop up a primary challenge to Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson, in the upcoming race for Florida Agriculture Commissioner. Simpson had been running for the job for years when decorated army vet Chuck Nadd came out of the woodwork, running squarely to the DeSantis/Trump base and stacked with DeSantis-loyal consultants. 

But Nadd was only a DeSantis pawn. Days after he appeared on Facing South Florida with Jim Defede, he was out of the race. DeSantis backed Wilton Simpson for Ag commissioner. The Florida Senate approved DeSantis’ maps. And here we are. 

With only days until November 8th, DeSantis appears poised to sail to reelection, and along with him a Florida congressional delegation of his own making, with a likely 20-8 split towards Republicans. The DeSantis march towards fascism continues as he makes his mark not just on Florida but the US Congress as well.