Left: Legislature-approved map. Right: Governor's proposed map.

Florida lawmakers just this month wrapped up the regular session but will have to go back in April. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday vetoed a congressional map approved by the Legislature, as expected. Lawmakers must now come up with cartography that satisfied the Governor, and that can withstand legal scrutiny. In the meantime, candidates for Congress remain in waiting.

Lawmakers from the region say they remain optimistic issues can be resolved when a Special Session convenes on April 19.

“I wasn’t surprised,” said state Rep. Will Robinson, R-Bradenton, who serves on the House Redistricting Committee. “Frankly, he has a constitutional role in the process, unlike the state legislative maps. I’m hopeful we will work with the Governor’s Office to produce constitutional maps he can sign.”

State Senate and House maps approved by the Legislature has already cleared a facial review before the Florida Supreme Court, so those lines are in place at least through the 2022 elections.

DeSantis’ office has argued the congressional maps violate the U.S. Constitute by racially gerrymandering seats. “Their I-guess-understandable zeal to try and comply with what they believe the Florida Constitution requires, they forgot to make sure what they were doing complied with the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” DeSantis said.

State lawmakers prioritized language in the Fair Districts amendment in the state constitution, passed in 2010. That forbids lawmakers redistricting in a way that diminishes the ability of minority communities to elect U.S. representatives of their choice.

The congressional maps vetoed by the Governor were passed by the Legislature with a 67-47 vote in the House and a 24-15 vote in the Senate. Nearly all Democrats voted against the maps amid complaints about whether there were enough minority access seats. That included Rep. Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, the Bradenton-Sarasota’s only Democratic lawmaker. Only seven House Republicans voted against the map, including Rep. Tommy Gregory, R-Sarasota, who also suggested concerns about conflict with the U.S. Constitution that prohibit using race as the primary reason to draw district lines.

While the Governor’s veto message focused on North Florida districts, there’s still a chance the redistricting fight impacts this region. The map produced by the Legislature produces little shift in this area. District 17 closely resembles Republican U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan’s current jurisdiction, including all of Manatee and north Sarasota County. District 18 is analogous to U.S. Rep. Greg Steube’s existing constituency, including Sarasota County from the Venice city limits southward, Charlotte County and much of inland Florida.

But the latest of two maps offered as suggestions by the Governor’s Office would have significant impacts. It would place all of Sarasota County in District 17 but all of Sarasota and Charlotte counties in District 18, with the Florida Heartland in District 16. It’s unclear in which district Buchanan or Steube might choose to run. Unlike state lawmakers, members of Congress are not required to live in their districts.

It's unclear at the moment whether a new draft map will look like the Legislature’s map outside of North Florida, or if it will mimic portions of the Governor’s map. But one thing is for certain— a new map will be in place for this year’s election. Florida picked up a U.S. House seat based on the 2020 Census, so the state map must go from 27 existing districts to 28 seats in order for Florida to send a full delegation to the next Congress.

Left: Legislature-approved map. Right: Governor's proposed map.