Florida's new congressional map creating four more U.S. House Republican-leaning districts will remain in place for the midterm elections.
The state Supreme Court declined to take up an emergency request to block it. The case must first be heard by a lower court, which has already declined to fast-track it.
"I think that people are going to find that the new maps are fair and compact and will give them more of a chance to weigh in on who they want to represent them,” said Evan Power, chair of the Republican Party of Florida.
The voting rights groups suing the state over the map emphatically disagree.
"Our view of this action is still the same,” said Genesis Robinson, executive director of the Equal Ground Education Fund, one of those groups. “The action taken by the Florida Legislature amounts to a partisan power grab in service to Donald Trump."
Robinson believes the courts will ultimately rule against the map.
That map could clear the way for Florida to send 24 Republicans to the U.S. House and only four Democrats. (Yet, 43% of state voters went for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.)
“It's, I think, quite painful and harmful for Floridians to have any election conducted under a map that's unconstitutional, and not just unconstitutional, but really violating the very clear will of the people of Florida,” said Amy Keith, who leads Common Cause Florida, one of the other plaintiffs.
In 2010, Florida voters approved restrictions on partisan gerrymandering.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose office created the map that Republican lawmakers passed, says the courts will ultimately allow it.
If you have any questions about state government or the legislative process, you can ask the Your Florida team by clicking here.
This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
