Why is Florida redrawing its congressional map in 2026?: Governor DeSantis called a special session to add 3-5 Republican House seats, awaiting the SCOTUS Louisiana v. Callais ruling on minority-majority districts before finalising the map.Source: event
Does Florida's Fair Districts amendment stop DeSantis from redistricting?: Florida's 2010 voter-approved Fair Districts constitutional amendments bar partisan gerrymandering, making DeSantis's session legally contested. Legal challenges are expected immediately upon session conclusion.Source: event
How many congressional seats does Florida have and how many are Republican?: Florida has 30 congressional seats. Republicans currently hold 20 seats. DeSantis's redistricting targets 3-5 additional Republican seats.
What did the Florida congressional delegation demand about Cuba licences?: On 11 February 2026 Representatives Giménez, Díaz-Balart and Salazar sent a letter to OFAC demanding revocation of all Cuba-related licences. More than 75 days later, Treasury had revoked none.Source: Cuba Dispatch
Why is Florida redistricting in 2026 significant?: Governor DeSantis called a special session (20-24 April 2026) to redraw congressional maps targeting 3-5 additional Republican seats, against Florida's Fair Districts constitutional amendments that prohibit partisan gerrymandering.Source: US Midterms 2026
How many congressional seats does Florida have?: Florida holds 30 congressional seats, currently split 20 Republican and 10 Democratic, making it the second-largest Republican House delegation.
What does Florida's 24R-4D congressional map do?: The map signed by DeSantis on 4 May 2026 redraws Florida's 30 congressional districts to target a 24-4 Republican advantage, eliminating four Democratic incumbents including Kathy Castor in Tampa.Source: Sabato's Crystal Ball / Florida legislature
Why is Florida's new map being challenged in court?: Plaintiffs filed a Fair Districts lawsuit hours after DeSantis signed the map on 4 May 2026, citing Florida's 2010 state constitutional ban on partisan gerrymanders, which operates independently of the federal VRA.Source: Florida Fair Districts litigation
When did DeSantis sign Florida's redistricting map?: 4 May 2026, four days after the Florida Senate passed it 21-17 on 30 April and the House passed it 83-28 on 29 April.Source: Florida legislature records
Has Treasury revoked Cuba licences after Florida's delegation demanded it?: No. As of 4 May 2026, Treasury had not revoked a single Cuba-related licence despite the Florida delegation's 11 February 2026 demand letter to OFAC.Source: OFAC public register

Background

Florida is the United States' third most populous state with approximately 22 million residents. Governed by Ron DeSantis (R), it holds 30 congressional seats and is a critical electoral battleground. Its large Cuban-American and wider Hispanic communities give it outsized weight in US-Cuba policy debates. Florida has been the base of the most vocally anti-Cuba bloc in Congress since the 1990s.

Florida is the focal point of the 2026 mid-decade redistricting wave. Governor Ron DeSantis called a special legislative session from 20 to 24 April 2026 to redraw congressional districts. DeSantis timed the session to await the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, then signed the resulting 24R-4D congressional map into law on 4 May 2026, four days after the Senate passed it 21-17 and the House 83-28. Sabato's Crystal Ball rated the map as shifting nine seats toward Republicans, erasing four Democratic incumbents. Hours after signature, plaintiffs filed the first legal challenge citing Florida's Fair Districts amendments (2010) — the state constitutional ban on partisan gerrymanders adopted by referendum — which operate independently of the now-gutted federal VRA. The state-law challenge means Callais does not insulate the map from litigation; it simply removes the federal floor.

Florida's Cuban-American congressional delegation moved from pressure to credit-taking on Cuba policy through May 2026. The delegation's 11 February 2026 letter to OFAC demanding comprehensive revocation of Cuba-related licences received no Treasury response in 96 days. Yet on Executive Order 14404 (1 May), the delegation took the opposite tack: Rep. Carlos Giménez (FL-26) issued a press release backing the EO and stating sanctions are 'necessary to target the regime's security apparatus...The days of impunity are over'. Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar aligned publicly. The 7 May SDN listing of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera under the [Cuba-EO] tag — the first individual designated under EO 14404, with the personal-relatives architecture authorising designations of named officials and their adult relatives — gave the delegation a concrete enforcement instrument to celebrate. The delegation has made no public statement on the 9 May Vatican humanitarian channel or the 10 April back-channel through Castro grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, suggesting selective alignment with the personal-sanctions track only.