Florida could make the difference in next year’s U.S. House elections.
By Brice Claypoole
Original Air Date: October 3, 2025
“The Gerry-Mander.” Illustration by Elkanah Tisdale via Wikimedia Commons
Host: The 2026 battle for control of the U.S. House of Representatives could come down to Florida. President Trump is urging lawmakers around the country to redraw congressional districts to favor Republicans, and Tallahassee looks set to carry out his request. The League of Women Voters in Sarasota is taking their concerns about this public, and Brice Claypoole has a report.
Brice Claypoole: Gerrymandering describes the unfair drawing of political districts, favoring one political party. Since districts are drawn by state legislatures, gerrymandering has always happened. But this year, at the behest of President Trump, things are kicking into overdrive.
It started when he called on Texas to redraw their congressional maps to net up to five more Republican seats in Congress. Since then, it’s escalated, with Democrats in California attempting their own gerrymander and other states across the nation jumping into the fray.
Frank Alcock
Frank Alcock: When Trump came out this past summer and said “do this to find me more congressional seats,” that, I believe, is unprecedented. What has happened now in the past few months is the complete collapse of a norm.
BC: That’s Frank Alcock, a professor of political science at New College of Florida.
FA: There was a consensus that voting should be fair and the drawing of lines should not be done for the purpose of favoring one party over another. That norm is collapsing.
BC: Now it’s Florida’s turn to jump in. Governor DeSantis and the Florida House are working on a plan to redistrict before the 2026 midterms. Their success could be essential to Republicans maintaining control of the U.S. Congress. According to an analysis by the New York Times, adding a gerrymander in Florida to the other red states already attempting to redistrict could mean Republicans remain in control of the House, even if Democrats win the popular vote by a 2- to 3-point margin.
One obstacle that could stand in the legislature’s way? In 2010, Florida voters amended our state Constitution to ban partisan gerrymandering. At the time, Alcock was a senior fellow at the Collins Center for Public Policy, which helped educate the public on the amendments. But he says he wouldn’t count on the State Supreme Court to fairly interpret the Constitution.
FA: It seems prima facie that this is being done to favor the Republican Party. I’m not sure how that squares with our state constitution. Our current Supreme Court, I don’t think, seems to have much of an appetite for rigorously applying the Constitution Amendments that we had. I don’t have a high amount of hope. Our current state Supreme Court? Pretty right-wing.
BC: He, like other experts I spoke with, framed the possibility of new maps as a threat to democracy.
FA: It’s very depressing. I don’t think this is a small blip on the screen. I think it’s very bad for democracy, and I’m not sure where we’re gonna be five years from now.
BC: Many advocates agree with this analysis, and they want to fight back.
Vilia Johnson: Instead of voters picking their legislators, the legislators pick their voters.
BC: That’s how Vilia Johnson, co-president of the League of Women Voters Sarasota, describes gerrymandering. The League is organizing a rally tomorrow at Sarasota’s Bayfront to support Fair Districts. Johnson says that’s only the start of their efforts.
Protesters line up along Sarasota’s downtown stretch of US 41 during a recent rally. Photo courtesy League of Women Voters Sarasota
VJ: We’re doing things like this rally. We’re going to be doing community presentations talking about what’s happening and why people should contact their legislators on how they feel about it. We’re sending out action alerts to our members and our sphere of influence to ask local citizens to take action to oppose the mid-decade redistricting and stand up for fair districts. Call or write to your elected official to say that we deserve districts that are drawn for people and not politicians.
BC: The Fair Districts rally will be held tomorrow, Saturday, October 4, from 10:00 to noon at South Bayfront Drive between Ringling Boulevard and Selby Gardens.
For WSLR News, this is Brice Claypoole.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
