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He continued sharpening the message while referencing Democratic threats of national retaliation over the map.
“He’s like, oh, if you do the redistricting, we’re going to take out all your members, we’re going to do all this stuff. And what I said was, go ahead, MAKE MY DAY.”
From there, DeSantis doubled down on his warning that Florida Republicans would not be intimidated by outside political pressure or financial influence from national Democrats.
“You don’t think we’re going to, you want to come down here and spend money in Florida, roll the dice and take your chances.”
“But don’t think that you can come down here, issue threats to us, and somehow you’re going to make us FLINCH.”
“That is not happening, and in fact, it did not happen, because as soon as he came out and started doing that last week, Florida legislature turned around and they PASSED A NEW MAP.”
The remarks came as Florida Republicans successfully pushed the new congressional map through the state legislature in a rapid legislative session. The approval marks a significant political win for DeSantis and GOP lawmakers, with projections suggesting the new districts could give Republicans as many as four additional U.S. House seats heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
The Florida House passed the measure 83-28 after a session that wrapped up in under 90 minutes. Republican lawmakers did not take to the floor to debate the proposal, moving instead with unified support.
Democrats, however, strongly objected during the proceedings. Tensions escalated as the vote neared, with Democratic Rep. Angie Nixon of Jacksonville—who is also running for U.S. Senate—interrupting the session and declaring the measure “was out of order.”
Across the state Capitol, the Florida Senate prepared for its own vote while briefly reviewing a newly issued U.S. Supreme Court ruling tied to a separate redistricting case in Louisiana. That decision found that lawmakers there improperly used race as a factor in drawing a majority-minority district, a ruling Democrats argued should have slowed Florida’s process.
House Democrats attempted to delay the vote, but their effort failed on a voice vote, allowing the process to move forward without interruption.
DeSantis, who has long argued that legal challenges would ultimately require Florida to revisit its congressional lines, pointed to the Louisiana ruling as validation of his position.
“Called this one month ago,” the governor posted on social media. “The decision implicates a district in FL, the legal infirmities of which have been corrected in the newly-drawn and soon to be enacted map.”
If the Florida Senate approves the map and DeSantis signs it into law, the state will join a growing list of states reshaping congressional boundaries ahead of the next election cycle. Republican-led states such as Texas, North Carolina, and Missouri have pursued similar mid-decade redraws, while Democratic-led states including California and Virginia have also explored adjustments to their maps.
Still, Democrats in Florida have sharply criticized the process, arguing it is overtly political. They pointed to testimony from Jason Poreda, a DeSantis staffer involved in drawing the map, who acknowledged under oath that partisan data was used in the district design process. Critics say that violates Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, passed by voters in 2010 to limit partisan gerrymandering.
“The man who drew this map testified under oath that he used partisan data to draw up every single district,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell. “Every single one. And when the governor’s attorney was asked whether Democratic voters were being underrepresented in our congressional delegation, his answer was, ‘That this is a normative question.’”
“Members, if we vote yes on this bill, it’s not just that we’re being misled, we are blessing this mess. The timing tells the rest. The governor announces his intention to redistrict, shortly after the president of the United States asked Republican-led states to do exactly that. There is no neutral explanation for that sequence of events.”
Republicans counter that the map is legally sound and necessary to reflect current political and population realities while strengthening Florida’s representation heading into 2026.
The final step now rests with the Florida Senate. If approved there, the measure will head to DeSantis’ desk, where it is expected to be signed into law, cementing the new congressional lines for the next election cycle.
