Democrat-aligned legal groups filed multiple lawsuits this week to block Florida's congressional redistricting map after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the plan into law Monday, setting up high-stakes court battles in a key political battleground.
The litigation, brought in Leon County, alleges that the 24-4 Republican-favorable map violated Florida's Fair Districts Amendment, a state constitutional provision approved by voters in 2010 that bans partisan gerrymandering. The lawsuits come after the Supreme Court's decision involving Louisiana's congressional map found that district lines should not typically be drawn based primarily on racial demographics.
What the Left Is Saying
Marc Elias, a prominent election lawyer who has led high-profile voting rights cases for Democrats, filed one lawsuit on behalf of the Equal Ground Education Fund and several individual Florida voters. In a statement, his firm called Florida's map "one of the most extreme partisan gerrymanders ever recorded."
"This new map would have one of the largest pro-Republican skews ever recorded," the statement said, noting that Florida voters "sent a clear message" when they approved the Fair Districts Amendment in 2010. Elias was joined by Norm Eisen, who led House Democrats' first impeachment probe into Trump and filed another lawsuit on behalf of voting rights groups including Common Cause and the League of Women Voters.
Eisen told Fox News Digital that DeSantis improperly leveraged the Supreme Court's Louisiana decision to justify the new map. A third lawsuit was brought by the Campaign Legal Center and the UCLA Voting Rights Project.
What the Right Is Saying
Conservative legal experts argued the lawsuits are designed primarily to delay implementation rather than succeed on merits. Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom, told Fox News Digital that the strategy is straightforward: file multiple suits hoping different judges will issue injunctions.
"All of the different groups that filed these — Common Cause, the League of Women Voters — they don't work in isolation," von Spakovsky said. "The reason they filed three different lawsuits is that they're hoping they'll get at least one of the three judges to issue an injunction, even if they ultimately lose the case."
Von Spakovsky predicted a protracted legal fight: "I think they're going to have a battle royale in court." He noted that because of the Supreme Court's Louisiana ruling, the Democrat-led lawsuits could not make race-based claims and instead rested on partisan gerrymandering allegations.
A spokesperson for Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd said the office could not comment on pending litigation. A DeSantis spokesperson has not yet responded to requests for comment on the legal challenges.
What the Numbers Show
Florida's candidate qualifying period begins in early June, with congressional primaries scheduled for Aug. 18. The state approved its Fair Districts Amendment in 2010 by a margin that passed constitutional muster under state law.
The Supreme Court's April 29 decision in Louisiana v. Callais found that congressional lines should not typically be drawn based primarily on racial demographics. DeSantis has signaled that ruling bolstered Florida's mid-cycle redistricting plan, which aims to give Republicans four additional seats in the state's delegation.
Florida is among several red southern states reworking their maps following the high court's decision. Tennessee is seeking to break up its one Memphis-based majority-Black district, while Alabama currently has only two Democratic-leaning districts despite its larger Black population.
The Bottom Line
The legal battles will determine whether Florida's new congressional map stands before the 2026 midterm elections. Republicans need the map in place for candidate qualifying, which begins in early June and leaves little time for courts to resolve challenges.
If plaintiffs secure even a temporary injunction, new districts may not be ready in time, potentially forcing candidates to run under current lines or delaying primary elections. Both sides are preparing for extended litigation that could reach Florida's Supreme Court before the August primary date.
What to watch: Whether any of the three Leon County judges issue preliminary injunctions, and how Florida's Supreme Court handles any appeals if lower courts rule against the map.