Gov. Ron DeSantis could push back the special session on congressional redistricting, he said Tuesday.
DeSantis originally called the session to produce new maps for the U.S. House in an unusual mid-decade redistricting in January and it’s scheduled to start Monday.
“I haven’t made any decisions on that but the answer is it’s possible you could do a little tweak, but you can’t really push it very far,” DeSantis told reporters in Tallahassee at a bill signing event.
His remarks came after Punchbowl News reported earlier on Tuesday DeSantis was considering delaying the redistricting session, tying it to Virginia’s referendum next week on whether to move forward with redistricting in the Democratic-controlled state.
DeSantis said he had “no idea what the relevance of Virginia” has to Florida’s redistricting decisions.
Florida voters passed a constitutional amendment in 2010 banning partisan gerrymandering, but President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers in Republican-controlled states to redraw their maps to give the GOP an advantage heading into the midterm elections in November.
Republicans hold a 216-213 advantage over Democrats in the U.S. House and a small wave of Democratic wins could give them control of the chamber in 2027.
Democrats have decried DeSantis’ redistricting push as a partisan power grab, but after a swathe of Democratic wins in special elections in recent weeks, including two state legislative districts in Florida, some Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation are warning against passing an aggressive new map.
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The main reason DeSantis gave for convening the redistricting session is a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision on a case involving Louisiana he believes will knock down part of the Voting Rights Act that allows districts to be drawn for racial reasons, to address historic discrimination.
DeSantis thinks the decision will implicate some South Florida districts, but the ruling hasn’t been issued yet. Last week he said the lack of a ruling wouldn’t affect Florida’s timing on redistricting.
“We know how that Supreme Court case is going to come out at this point, I don’t think theres much of a dispute about that,” DeSantis said last week. “And I think Justice Alito is writing the opinion. So us looking at our map, understanding the issues in that case and fixing it, I think that’s appropriate whether the decision comes before we do it or after.”
Any new map passed would likely be subject to lawsuits, but whether it would be blocked by the courts before the November elections is unclear.
One major question hanging over the session: who will produce the new district map?
House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, convened a select committee on redistricting last year but after two meetings in December the panel stopped meeting and hasn’t worked on any maps.
Neither has the Senate moved forward with any new districts.
A spokeswoman for DeSantis didn’t return an email Tuesday asking whether his office was drafting new maps.
“Ultimately they’re going to have to consider maps,” DeSantis said Tuesday. “That will be done one way or another.”
