Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis issued a proclamation on 15 April 2026 delaying Florida's redistricting special session from the original 20-24 April window to 28 April through 1 May, expanding the agenda to include vaccine-exemption and AI consumer-protection bills alongside congressional map redrawing. The delay means the session opens four days after the 24 April candidate filing Deadline, removing any map the session produces from constraining candidate filings — a significant complication for the redistricting strategy. DeSantis is still awaiting the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais before finalising the map, as the case tests whether the Voting Rights Act Section 2 still requires majority-minority districts .

DeSantis, a Yale Law and Harvard Law graduate, served in Congress from 2013 to 2019 before becoming Florida governor in 2019. He won re-election in 2022 by nearly 20 points and ran an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2024. The redistricting push targets three to five additional Republican seats from Florida's existing 20 of 28 seat majority, and potentially violates Florida's Fair Districts constitutional amendments, which voters approved in 2010 to prevent partisan gerrymandering.

Florida's redistricting is part of a national wave: eight states are actively redrawing congressional maps mid-decade. The post-filing-Deadline timing narrows DeSantis's options; the new map will apply to the candidate pool that filed under the existing district boundaries, limiting the gerrymander's full political effect in 2026 while still structuring the 2028 cycle.

DeSantis signed Florida's 24R-4D congressional map on 4 May 2026, four days after the Florida Senate passed it 21-17 and after the House passed it 83-28 on 29 April. The map shifts nine Florida districts, drawing four Democratic incumbents into elimination districts . The SCOTUS Callais ruling on 29 April freed DeSantis from the VRA Section 2 majority-minority obligation he had been waiting on before committing to the final map shape.

Judge Joshua Hawkes of Leon County Circuit Court consolidated the Fair Districts Amendment challenges and heard oral argument on 15 and 16 May 2026 . Plaintiffs argue the map uses partisan data in every district in violation of Florida's 2010 constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering. DeSantis's counsel argues Callais nullifies the Fair Districts Amendment — a constitutionally novel claim since the Amendment was adopted by Florida voters via referendum and operates independently of the federal VRA. Hawkes said he would issue a written decision in coming days; Florida congressional qualifying opens 8 June, leaving a narrow window for any injunction before candidate filing.

The post-filing-Deadline timing of the signing compounds the strategic picture: the 2026 election will be contested by the candidate pool that filed under the old district lines. The redistricting's full gerrymandering effect is concentrated in the 2028 cycle rather than November 2026. DeSantis also signed a Cuba sanctions executive order on 1 May and oversaw passage of vaccine-exemption and AI consumer-protection legislation during the same session.