Florida Redistricting

A panel of federal judges Thursday shielded eight current and former legislative leaders from having to testify in a challenge to a congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through last year.

It came at the start of the 2023 legislative session, in which the Republican supermajority is expected to rubber stamp much of DeSantis' agenda.

Florida Gov. DeSantis' pugnacious approach to issues involving race, sexual orientation and public health has pushed him to the front of the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

They include challenges to new laws that prevent abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, and restrict classroom instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The redistricting plan, which Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Florida Legislature during a special session last April, was used in the elections amid constitutional challenges in federal and state courts.

The marquee races include a pair of incumbent House members — Republican Neal Dunn and Democrat Al Lawson — facing off against each other in a north Florida district that leans GOP.

Two congressional incumbents vying to represent more than a dozen Panhandle counties share their views on the rising cost of tuition and federal student loan forgiveness.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly claimed that Florida’s heavily Republican congressional map was not drawn with partisan intent — but that doesn’t line up with the findings of a ProPublica investigation published this week.

Florida's new congressional map cuts in half the number of districts where Black voters can elect their candidate of choice.

Several counties in the new District 2 are in Lawson's congressional district or were in districts he's represented in the state House and Senate.

The state's highest court denied the plaintiffs' request to lift the appeals court's stay after the majority found it lacks jurisdiction to weigh in on the matter.

The decision comes a week after a lower court judge said the map was unconstitutional.