Florida Republicans plan to add four new seats for Congress

Republicans in Florida plan to add four Republican-leaning seats in the House of Representatives. After Texas already introduced its new map and California schedules a special election to approve its own, Benny Johnson reported that Republicans in the Sunshine State could join the trend.

According to Johnson, "high-level sources" within local government informed him that the Legislature would move forward with a redistricting plan for the midterm elections.

"The current plan will redraw 4 new congressional seats, specifically targeting key population centers around Orlando, Tampa, and surrounding Miami districts," the political commentator wrote on his X account.

"This strategy, combined with the 4-5 new House seats that Florida will gain in the 2030 census, will make Florida a Republican electoral college juggernaut and further cripple Democrats hopes of taking back the House in 2026," he added.

After the 2020 census, Florida gained one seat in the House, going from 27 to 28 lawmakers. While the number of seats was split for the better part of a century, the Republican trend in Florida in recent years changed the numbers. Currently, Republicans hold 20 seats and Democrats hold eight. Only four of the 28 districts are competitive: 13, 27, 15 and 7.

"I would look very seriously at creating a mid-decade redistricting process in Florida. I would just say, stay tuned on that," the state's governor, Ron DeSantis, said. If the plan moves forward, it would join Texas and California as the only states to advance redistricting.

Unlike California, the Sunshine State does not need a special election to redraw the electoral map.