DeSantis may delay his special session to redraw Florida congressional maps

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested Tuesday that he might delay a special session to draw up new congressional maps, which is scheduled to begin next week.

At a Tallahassee news conference, he said "it will happen within the next couple of weeks," but that he had not made a decision on it.

"I have had people say, you know, they still haven't done a budget. There's this, there's that, could you do a little bit different timing?" he said. "The answer is, I haven't made any decisions on that."

State lawmakers are scheduled to return to Tallahassee on Monday, but they currently have nothing to discuss.

Lawmakers - who haven't been given any schedule for next week and haven't been working on their own suggested maps - have been waiting on the governor to produce one.

Without consulting them, DeSantis in January ordered them to come back to Tallahassee the week of April 20 for redistricting, after President Donald Trump asked states to overhaul their maps to favor Republicans ahead of the midterms.

But in recent weeks, questions have been raised about whether it will actually happen.

DeSantis has said he wanted new congressional maps in part because he was expecting the U.S. Supreme Court to justify it with a ruling on the Voting Rights Act.

That ruling hasn't been issued.

Then last month, Democrats flipped two Florida legislative seats in special elections, bolstering concerns from Republicans that they could be in trouble if their districts are redrawn.

DeSantis took control of the last round of redistricting in 2022, when he vetoed the Legislature's congressional map and issued his own, which lawmakers passed.

On Tuesday, DeSantis was asked when he would introduce a proposed map, but he didn't give a clear answer.

"Ultimately, they're going to have to consider maps," he said of lawmakers. "I can pass judgment on it. Obviously, we worked on a map last time, can do it again. So that will be done one way or another."

DeSantis also addressed a report from the news site Punchbowl that said he could be waiting to see the results of a Virginia referendum on the ballot next week that would eliminate all but one Republican district.

"I have no idea where that came from," DeSantis said. "I have no idea what the relevance of Virginia is to anything we're doing."

Republicans make up 41% of active registered voters in Florida but hold 20 of 28 congressional seats, or 71%. Analysts have said Republicans could pick up as many as five more seats under a new map, giving them 89% of the seats.

But a new analysis released this week by a top GOP consultant warned that "aggressive redistricting" would increase the number of competitive seats from four to seven, without producing any net gain in Republican seats. The analysis was first reported by Florida Politics.

Legislators still have to return to Tallahassee to pass a budget by July 1, and they're also expected to approve a referendum for the November ballot to lower property taxes.

DeSantis suggested Tuesday that if he delays the redistricting session, it won't be by much.

"You can't really push it very far. You got to get it done probably within the next couple of weeks."

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This story was originally published April 14, 2026 at 6:56 PM.