Jesse Scheckner
Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones is hammering Florida Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting push, calling it a brazen power grab and part of a national playbook aimed at silencing voters and rigging elections before the 2026 Midterms.
In a statement Friday, one day after House Speaker Daniel Perez announced the creation of a Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting, Jones bashed the move and called for bipartisan opposition.
“We’ve already seen the courts strike down Florida’s 2022 maps for violating the rights of Black voters — and now they’re at it again. It’s a pattern of suppression, not a coincidence,” he said.
“This week marked the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, serving as a stark reminder of just how fragile our democracy and fundamental right to vote are. We won’t be intimidated and are here to fight. I call on my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to put partisanship aside and remember our duty: to protect the people’s voice, not silence it.”
The Florida Supreme Court in July upheld Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 congressional map, which eliminated a Black-performing district in North Florida. Perez said the new committee is meant to clarify legal questions raised by the court’s decision. But critics say the move opens the door for Republicans to expand their 20-8 majority in Florida’s congressional delegation.
The Florida Democratic Party called it “corruption, plain and simple” and accused Perez of “abusing his power and breaking with decades of precedent to rig the system in favor of Republicans.”
Jones’ sentiments align with that view.
“This is yet another attempt from Gov. DeSantis and Florida Republicans to further disenfranchise voters and rig the Congressional map instead of focusing on solving problems,” he said. “As we’ve seen across the country, state lawmakers are facing political and safety threats for standing up to these kinds of attacks on our democracy.”
Despite the controversy, Perez has said he will not appoint anyone with congressional ambitions to the redistricting committee or who publicly suggest the process should benefit or harm a specific party.
DeSantis hinted at calling a Special Session to pursue redistricting after the Florida Supreme Court ruling, a move he said President Donald Trump’s administration supports and believes could net Florida “three to five more seats if they did it properly.”
Jones pointed to redistricting efforts in Texas, where Republicans have proposed a map that would flip up to five seats as a preview of what elected members of the Florida GOP are planning.
“Texas just gutted fair representation with redistricting — and now Florida is eyeing the same playbook. This ain’t about fairness, it’s about control,” he said on X.
“Florida, don’t sleep.”
