DeSantis under pressure as Florida redraw could tip House balance in GOP map fight

By Fox News · Fox News

All eyes are on Florida next week, as it is likely the final battleground in the high-stakes fight between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats over congressional redistricting. A special session of the Florida legislature, called earlier this year by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to redraw the right-leaning state's U.S. House districts, kicks off on Tuesday. At stake is which party will control the House of Representatives during the final two years of Trump's second term in the White House. Republicans and Democrats over the past nine months have been redrawing the House district maps in states they control to gain partisan advantages heading into this year's midterm elections, when the GOP will be defending its razor-thin congressional majority. DESANTIS AND JEFFRIES TRADE SHOTS OVER FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING Lawmakers in the GOP-dominated Florida legislature are meeting one week after voters in Virginia narrowly passed a referendum that, if it clears legal hurdles, will give the state's Democratic-controlled legislature — rather than the current nonpartisan commission — temporary redistricting power through the 2030 election. It could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia's congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. The vote in Virginia put more pressure on DeSantis to deliver a new map in Florida that could create between three and five more right-leaning congressional districts . "Florida has the right and the intention to do it. And my view is that they should," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday when asked if Florida's maps should be redrawn in time for the midterms. A Florida-based Republican in the governor's wider political circle who asked for anonymity to speak more freely told Fox News Digital, "Gov. DeSantis is under tremendous pressure to deliver an answer to Virginia for Trump and Speaker Johnson." The road ahead for DeSantis is not easy: the governor already pushed throu…