House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries escalated his party's redistricting battle with Florida Republicans on Thursday, calling Gov. Ron DeSantis a "lame duck" after the governor offered to pay for Jeffries' trip to Florida while the state prepares to redraw eight Democratic-held congressional districts.
The exchange began Wednesday when DeSantis invited Jeffries to visit Florida at a news conference in Kissimmee, responding to Jeffries' earlier warning about redistricting. "Please. Be my guest. I will pay for you to come down to Florida to campaign," DeSantis told reporters. "I'll put you up in the Florida governor's mansion. We'll take you fishing. We'll do all this stuff. There's nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries, Hakeem Jeffries, everywhere around this state."
What the Left Is Saying
Jeffries fired back in a Fox News Digital interview, characterizing DeSantis as politically weakened ahead of his final term. "Ron DeSantis is putting his own congressional delegation in jeopardy, which probably shouldn't be surprising because all of them, as I understand it, can't stand the charismatically challenged lame-duck governor of Florida," Jeffries said.
The New York Democrat also warned that Florida Republicans would face electoral consequences similar to those he said Texas Republicans encountered. "Our message to Florida Republicans is F around and find out," Jeffries said. "If they go down the road of a DeSantis dummymander, the Florida Republicans are gonna find themselves in the same situation as Texas Republicans, who are on the run right now."
Jeffries referenced the ongoing redistricting fights in multiple states, including Virginia, where voters approved a Democratic-backed redistricting referendum Tuesday. He also claimed Democrats would gain five seats in California while Republicans would fail to achieve their projected gains in Texas. "The Republicans are dummymandering their way into the minority before a single voter casts a ballot because they started this war, and we're going to finish it," he said.
What the Right Is Saying
DeSantis has framed Florida's redistricting effort as a matter of population representation. The governor called a special session this week to focus on congressional maps that he says will "accurately reflect the population of our state."
Florida's state constitution prohibits favoring any political party in redistricting. DeSantis' invitation to Jeffries was framed as an opportunity for the House Democratic leader to campaign in Florida, which Republicans argue would expose Democratic vulnerabilities in a state where they hold 20 of 28 congressional seats.
The invitation came amid a broader push by Republicans, initiated by President Donald Trump, to redraw congressional districts in states they control. Texas Republicans have pursued maps that some analysts suggest could flip up to five Democratic-held seats, though Jeffries argued those efforts would fail.
What the Numbers Show
Florida's 28 congressional seats include 20 held by Republicans and eight held by Democrats. Eight Democratic-held districts are up for redrawing in the upcoming redistricting process.
In Virginia, voters approved a redistricting referendum Tuesday that secured Democrats a major victory in the battle for House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. The referendum was characterized by President Trump as a "blatant partisan power grab" in statements to Virginia voters.
Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority in the House, making control of redistricting efforts in key states critical for both parties. California Democrats have also sued to stop a redistricting plan pushed by Gov. Newsom, with the state potentially adding five Democratic-leaning seats based on population growth.
The Bottom Line
The redistricting fight in Florida represents one front in a broader national battle for House control heading into the 2026 midterms. Both parties are leveraging district redrawing to gain electoral advantages, with Virginia's referendum providing an early test of voter sentiment on the issue.
Florida's special session on congressional maps continues as Republicans seek to maintain their 20-8 advantage in the state's delegation. Jeffries' warning that aggressive redistricting could backfire politically echoes Democratic arguments across multiple states, though the ultimate electoral impact will not be known until voters cast ballots in November.