The drawing of political boundaries normally only takes place in the wake of the decennial census. But a half-dozen states drafted new congressional maps in 2025, and Florida leaders say the Sunshine State will follow suit this year.

That has political consultants and candidates for Congress in both parties anxious to see the new cartography. But House Speaker Daniel Perez appears at odds with both Gov. Ron DeSantis and Senate President Ben Albritton about when redistricting should occur.

DeSantis, days before the start of the Regular Session, called a Special Session on redistricting for April 20. That should allow time for the U.S. Supreme Court to reach a decision on Louisiana v. Callais, which could impact how racial demographics can be used to craft political boundaries.

The Fair Districts Amendment to Florida’s Constitution, passed by voters in 2010, prohibits the diminishment of voting power for racial minorities. But a high court ruling could determine if such a restriction means race would predominate the redistricting process.

“There’s a Supreme Court decision that’s going to affect the validity of some of these districts nationwide, including some of the districts in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.

But Perez announced a redistricting committee last August. A committee named weeks later has already met twice ahead of the Regular Session, though no specific maps have been discussed. Perez has signaled a desire to complete the process during the Session.

“Members can expect the process will unfold thoughtfully, deliberately and transparently,” Perez said.

Albritton for his part appears to be taking the lead from DeSantis and said in a memo to all Senators that “no ongoing work regarding mid-decade redistricting taking place in the Senate at this time.”

Among the consulting class, that has created a certain amount of consternation. Terry Miller, a political consultant in Southwest Florida, said he appreciates the Governor’s logic, but that many campaigns are already underway.

“The Governor is right not to get too far out in front of things. I don’t want to waste money and time for something to not work in the court’s eyes and be back where we started,” Miller said. “But from a political point of view, I want certainty. I want to know who we’re campaigning to and messaging to.”

Miller, a Republican consultant, lives in Florida’s 19th Congressional District, currently the only open federal race in Florida due to U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds’ run for Governor. Miller is currently working with Jim Schwartzel’s campaign, one of 12 federal campaigns that were already up and running before the close of 2025.

Every other member of Florida’s congressional delegation intends to seek re-election. But speculation swirls around incumbents because of the looming redistricting process.

In Washington, D.C., rumors swirl around whether maps may thrust Democratic U.S. Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz to compete in South Florida, or for the same to happen to Democratic U.S. Reps. Maxwell Frost and Darren Soto in Central Florida.

But there are only eight Democrats among Florida’s 28-member U.S. House delegation. Any change in the lines would undoubtedly also impact the 19 Republican U.S. Representatives from Florida.

The very nature of the conversation, though, has fueled adamant objections from Democrats about the legality of embarking on redistricting this year at all. Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell has said the only reason Republicans have even considered new cartography is because of pressure from President Donald Trump, who has publicly urged all Republican-controlled states to redistrict.

“Trump wants to rig the Midterm Elections to prevent the American people from holding his administration accountable,” she said.

State Rep. Bruce Antone, the ranking Democrat on the House Redistricting Committee, noted that Florida never embarked on off-year redistricting absent a court order, and he only knows of three times that happened. But he suspects that so much political pressure will come from Trump and DeSantis that lawmakers will redraw lines anyway.

“I think there is more of a push coming from Gov. DeSantis than the White House. But Speaker Perez is his own person. He is not easily pushed around,” Antone said.

“But I think this is something where he has to at least begin the process. I don’t sense an appetite from the Speaker or the Senate President that this is something they want to do, but they may not have a choice. Too many people across the nation are watching this, and it determines their future.”

Notably, Trump’s political team, immediately after Perez announced he would appoint a redistricting committee, was pushing the Speaker as a potential candidate for Attorney General. Perez has since said he won’t run for that job, and Trump then endorsed Attorney General James Uthmeier, whom DeSantis appointed to the Cabinet post last year.

But Antone said if Perez intends to run for any public office or seek an appointment in the future, he may need to play ball on redistricting.

That has left Democratic consultants suspicious of the entire process.

“We already know the GOP is looking to heavily redistrict and gerrymander areas across Florida in order to help Trump with the Midterms,” said Jeremy Rodriguez, an Orlando-based political consultant who worked on Soto’s last congressional campaign.

“This isn’t about representing the people of Florida, it’s about Trump maintaining control as democracy continues to erode and turn into authoritarianism.”

That said, Antone’s main question heading into Session is: Who will produce the maps lawmakers may have to consider? The FloridaRedistricting.gov site used in the 2022 decennial redistricting process has published no new maps since 2022.

“I’m wondering who is drawing the maps,” Antone said.

DeSantis already made clear who he wants as Florida’s cartographer. He said he would ask Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly to work again with the Governor’s Office for the redistricting process. Before his current role, Kelly worked as Deputy Chief of Staff to DeSantis and drew the controversial map the Governor strong-armed the Legislature into approving in 2022, after vetoing maps that originated in a traditional process.

Kelly also drew other maps approved by the Legislature, including one that the Florida Supreme Court in 2015 tossed for violating Fair Districts by allowing undue influence by partisan political players to shape lines.

But that 20-year-old ruling was legally undermined in July when the current Florida Supreme Court upheld the DeSantis-signed, and Kelly-drawn, map. That decision said the lines the prior court had put in place for the 2016 elections — which included a Tallahassee-to-Jacksonville district that elected Black Democrat Al Lawson to Congress for three election cycles — violated the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause by crafting a map predominantly based on race.

“The Legislature’s obligation to comply with the Equal Protection Clause is superior to its obligation to comply with the Non-Diminishment Clause as interpreted by our Court,” reads a majority opinion by Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz. “The plaintiffs did not prove the possibility of complying with both the Non-Diminishment Clause and the Equal Protection Clause in North Florida. Therefore, they did not meet their burden to prove the invalidity of the Enacted Plan.”

DeSantis and Perez have both cited the language of that ruling as placing urgency on redistricting now instead of after the 2030 census. While the 2022 fight centered around the Lawson district in North Florida, the Governor and Legislature decided to settle on lines crafted by legislative cartographers in South Florida, ones that left in place minority-empowering districts that historically have elected Black Democrats and Cuban American Republicans for decades.

The long-held belief in Tallahassee was that those districts are all protected by the Voting Rights Act approved by Congress in 1965. But a host of court rulings, the Muñiz opinion most recent among them, has eroded the federal direction over the last 10 years.

“Exploring these questions now, at the mid-decade point, would potentially allow us to seek legal guidance from our Supreme Court without the uncertainty associated with deferring those questions until after the next decennial census and reapportionment,” Perez wrote in a memo to Representatives when announcing the House Redistricting Committee.

Rep. Mike Redondo, a Miami Republican in line to become House Speaker in 2030, was named as Chair of the committee. He did not return calls to Florida Politics on the subject, but so far he has suggested urgency in crafting the lines.

“It would be irresponsible to delay the creation and passage of a new map, especially until after Session. It would also be irresponsible to any who are called to civil service,” Redondo said at the first meeting of the committee. “And most importantly, it would be irresponsible to the citizens of Florida.”

But through two meetings, there remain no maps for anyone to review, outside those produced by online activists eager to grow the number of seats in Florida. One frequently shared by pro-Trump accounts would leave Florida with 25 Republican-leaning seats and only three favoring Democrats.

“Democrats are going all-in on redistricting and stretching state laws to their limits wherever they can. We can’t afford to leave a single seat on the table in Florida,” posted X user Erickson with a copy of that map.

But of note, a provision of the Fair Districts Amendment unchallenged in Muñiz’s Summer ruling prohibits drawing districts intentionally to the benefit or detriment of a political party. Whether the Louisiana decision opens the door to openly partisan gerrymandering, as recently displayed in Texas, California and, before 2010, in Florida, remains uncertain. But in 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held that questions about partisan gerrymandering were “not justiciable” in federal courts, leaving enforcement of any prohibitions to state courts.

Florida Politics reached out to a number of political consultants who did not return calls. But Republican leaders have hoped to see a new map this year, one even friendlier than the one DeSantis signed in 2022 that produced four Republican pickups in House seats in Florida that year.

When lawmakers last conducted redistricting, Florida Republicans had achieved a statewide advantage in voter registrations over Democrats only a few months before. But as of Nov. 30, there were more than 1.4 million more Republicans than Democrats in a state of about 13.5 million people.

Of course, there remain other guidelines on redistricting that court precedent requires lawmakers to consider when drawing any political boundaries. Geographic boundaries like water bodies, major roadways, and existing city limits and county lines all normally play varying levels of importance in the process.

Miller, for his part, has tried to stay out of conversations in light of his work on congressional campaigns. He did say that as a Lee County resident, he long has hoped the county would be wholly included in one congressional district.

Rodriguez, while he doesn’t feel like redistricting should happen, said the process will impact the entire landscape of Florida, so he will be paying close attention to the outcomes. But he also stressed that data changes significantly year to year. He also suggested that changing the lines won’t impact the political atmosphere of the Midterms.

“A critical demographic to focus on as well is the Latino community, which made a pronounced shift, particularly among men, toward Republican candidates in recent presidential cycles,” he said.

“However, this trend is not locked in. Current data suggests perspectives are shifting rapidly due to key issues like the affordability crisis, business concerns and immigration policy. It is crucial for candidates to focus on economic messaging and acknowledging the importance of the Latino community to gain their support.”

Ballard Partners founder and lead strategist Brian Ballard and his wife, Kathryn, have donated $1 million to Florida State University (FSU) for its Food for Thought Pantry. It’s the largest single investment to the school’s Division of Student Affairs in its history.

“This extraordinary gift from Kathryn and Brian Ballard embodies the true spirit of the Florida State University community,” FSU President Richard McCullough said. “Their generosity will make a lasting impact, helping us address the issue of student food insecurity and ensuring that our students have the resources they need to thrive academically and personally. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to our mission and for supporting our students’ success.”

Kathryn Ballard is an FSU alumna and a member of the university’s board of trustees.

The funding will benefit efforts to reduce food insecurity on college campuses, which data shows is on the rise, according to the American College Health Association. That group found nearly a third of college students nationwide experience food insecurity.

FSU’s Food for Thought Pantry has served students since 2009, providing immediate support to those at risk of going hungry. As of December 8, the Pantry had served more than 3,000 students more than 22,000 times, collectively, in 2025. That was a nearly 58% increase in student usage over the previous year.

The Pantry also operates mobile distribution events, dining hall meal swipe donation distributions and Supplemental Nutrition Access Program (SNAP) workshops. Both undergraduate and graduate students across all colleges access the Pantry — and their needs continue to grow.

“Our vision is to champion support for a state-of-the-art market where Florida State University students can confidently collect provisions as they pursue their degrees,” the Ballard said.

The Ballards’ gift will help the Pantry with its expansion efforts, including long-term plans to increase its square-footage and storage capacity and expand its services to more students.

“We are extremely grateful to the Ballards for their generous gift and longstanding support to FSU and our students,” FSU Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht said. “Their commitment and compassion will enable students to focus on their academics and help ensure their path to graduation is unimpeded.”

Kathryn Ballard graduated from FSU in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree from what was then called the College of Human Sciences. In addition to her service on the FSU Board of Trustees, she has a long history of charitable and community work including service on the FSU College of Health and Human Sciences Board, the Board of Directors of the Florida Special Olympics and the Board of Trustees of the Maclay School of Tallahassee.

It’s Brian Ballard’s role in philanthropic efforts at FSU that makes a little less sense — He’s a two-time graduate of FSU rival, the University of Florida.

And this isn’t the first time the couple has made a major contribution to FSU.

Brian Ballard’s firm, Ballard Partners, also previously launched an FSU scholarship fund in 2020 to honor Gregory Turbeville, who passed away that year at just 49 years old. The scholarship supports students who demonstrate exceptional academic achievement and have financial need.

And the Ballards in 2016 gifted FSU a building valued at $1.1 million to serve as the home of the Him Moran School of Entrepreneurship and the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship. The 19,000 square-foot building is located at 111 S. Monroe St. in Tallahassee and was the final piece needed after securing a $100 million donation to establishing the school from the Jim Moran Foundation.

Rep. Marie Woodson is entering the 2026 Legislative Session on a mission to pass meaningful legislation, from ensuring Floridians have access to safe medical treatment to safeguarding children during police interactions.

Those aims, Woodson said, are consistent with the promise she made before and after her election to the House; her 2020 platform was full of people-first policies she continues to pursue today.

“When I took the vow of office, I vowed to protect the people of the state of Florida,” she told Florida Politics.

“That’s what I do every day. I look out for them, protect them and make sure they have a better quality of life, a way to become more self-sufficient and successful.”

Several of the bills that Woodson, a Hollywood Democrat, is carrying this year center on health care safety and continuity.

There’s HB 93, which is meant to protect patients from airborne contaminants during surgeries. The measure, to which Jacksonville Democratic Sen. Tracie Davis is carrying an identical companion (SB 162), would require hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to mandate the use of smoke evacuation systems during procedures likely to generate surgical smoke.

It’s a change Woodson and Davis have sought for years and came close to getting across the proverbial finish line last year. And the risks are real; according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, repeated exposure to surgical smoke has been known since 1996 to cause, among other things, respiratory irritation, visual problems and potential cancer-causing gene mutation.

As of last year, 18 states had laws to prevent the health hazard. Woodson wants Florida to join them. But she said there’s been some industry pushback — an assertion backed by dozens of lobbyist registrations on the bill.

“Some people are against it. I don’t see why,” she said. “Hospitals are supposed to use small equipment to capture that smoke, and some aren’t using it. They might be thinking they could get sued. I don’t care about that. By 2035, we’re expected to have a nursing shortage in Florida. We have a shortage of doctors. Let’s do right by those people.”

Another health care-focused proposal (SB 114, HB 577) that Woodson is running with Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones would ensure people aren’t left without coverage or care due to corporate disagreements outside their control.

The legislation is a response to difficulties tens of thousands of Broward County patients encountered late last year after Florida Blue removed Memorial Healthcare System from its in-network provider list.

At the time, Jones had just been released from a Memorial hospital following treatment for a serious health condition and found himself suddenly without coverage.

“I’m in limbo,” Jones told Florida Politics. “I have to find another doctor, and I’m paying out-of-pocket right now.”

Woodson and Jones’ proposal, which already cleared one House committee with uniform support, would require insurers and health care providers to give affected patients at least 60 days’ advance notice.

The notice would have to explain, in plain language, each patient’s rights, transition timeline and where to direct questions or complaints, with regulators authorized to impose fines for violations. The bill would allow patients already in active treatment to continue seeing their current provider under the same contract terms for up to six months or through postpartum care, whichever applies.

“I’ve been getting a lot of calls from people about this,” Woodson said. “I want to put certain things in place to make sure people are covered, that there’s a grace period before they can tell you, ‘Hey, your insurance is not taking this.’ Because by the time they do the negotiations, you don’t even have time to look for a different hospital or doctor; you’re just being dropped.”

Woodson is also sponsoring a bill (HB 83) to better protect children whose parents are being taken into custody by law enforcement.

In some arrest situations, she said, a mother or father may not inform police that they have kids in the house who will be left alone. And even though the Department of Children and Families will ultimately intervene to pick up and care for those children if no other suitable option exists, there is still a span of time between those actions that can prove dangerous for a child.

HB 83, which awaits a Senate analog, would require law enforcement officers to ask standardized questions about minor children when arresting a person and to verify that any children are safe and in the care of a responsible guardian.

If an officer determines that a child may be unsafe or unaccounted for, the bill would authorize contact with the state’s central abuse hotline and, if necessary, protective intervention. It also directs the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission to develop statewide policies and training on handling the special needs of children present during a parent’s arrest.

“This bill is extremely important to me,” she said, adding that she is working with several organizations and agencies to improve the bill before it hopefully passes.

Lastly, Woodson is working on a cross-aisle measure (SB 562, HB 533) with Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia to help people with disabilities interact with government entities and staff in the way they best can.

The measure would create a new bill of rights for such individuals, guaranteeing that they can communicate using their preferred alternative communication methods in educational, health care and public settings.

It would prohibit state agencies, schools and health care providers from restricting those methods, mandate statewide training for relevant staff and establish a temporary advisory board to oversee implementation and compliance.

Violations could result in administrative action and civil penalties.

Woodson said a woman and her mother brought her the issue on the last day of the 2025 Session, imploring her to file legislation to help them.

“They were in tears,” she said. “People with disabilities like autism, sometimes others act like they are not even there. I want to make sure that whatever they use to speak is allowed either in school or through the state of Florida, that they have the right to communicate in whatever preferred manner they have.”

The 2026 Legislative Session begins Tuesday.