James Uthmeier blames ‘deep state’ for Florida census undercount

Is a routine population count part of a “deep state” plot?

That’s the take of Attorney General James Uthmeier, who says the deep state was responsible for twisting the results of the most recent census for its nefarious ends, ensuring Florida was “robbed of a seat.”

“The deep state’s always been working the census for political purposes,” the Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee said on The Dana Show.

In this case, the “deep state” was doing the bidding not of the Donald Trump administration, which started the decennial exercise in 2020, but of the Joe Biden administration that entered shortly before final findings were released in 2021.

Biden’s team worked to, per Uthmeier, “delay results” and “do a lot of manipulation.”

Uthmeier said Florida was “supposed to get two seats” and that the state was undercounted by 700,000 votes, but the formula was biased against the state.

“The census, they count everybody. They count the illegals. And then states like California, sanctuary states, end up having a disproportionately high electoral power. This is wrong. The founders never would have tolerated this,” Uthmeier said, referring to the people who didn’t extend suffrage to anyone but White, male property owners in most cases.

“It’s improperly creating a balance that creates greater weight for Democrat states. We believe if you remove the illegal aliens from apportionment, it could result in a swing of as many as 20 to 30 electoral (seats).”

It is not at all clear by what mechanism Florida would receive another congressional seat before the Midterms. While the Governor and his allies have extended hope that Trump could “award” the state another seat in Congress, this would likely be challenged in court by the state that would have to give up its representation.

Indeed, DeSantis has narrowed expectations from Florida getting up to five seats after having been “gypped” the state in favor of “blue states” that allegedly count “illegal aliens” as part of the metric. While he expects Florida to redistrict again in 2026, he aims to target a “race-based” South Florida district.

The state currently has a 20-8 Republican advantage in the congressional delegation, with a map that DeSantis’ office drew and coerced the Legislature into voting on after he nixed its first work product. The Governor previously credited that map with the current GOP majority in the U.S. House.