Redistricting could cost blue Central Florida a Democratic Congressional seat

Natalia Jaramillo, Orlando Sentinel on Aug 18, 2025

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A state and national GOP effort pushing a rare mid-decade redistricting could put one of Central Florida’s two Democratic Congressional seats at risk, and local Democratic leaders gathered Monday to denounce the strategy.

At a press conference Monday five state legislators joined U.S. Rep Maxwell Frost to “sound the alarm” on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ proposal to redraw the state’s congressional maps following President Donald Trump’s demand to get more Republicans elected to Congress. DeSantis has said he believes Republicans could gain ground even in a U.S. House delegation already 20-8 in their favor.

Frost’s own Orlando-centered district leans strongly Democratic, but Kissimmee Rep. Darren Soto represents a much more closely divided area.

“Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis want to rig our elections,” said Samuel Vilchez Santiago, chair of the Orange County Democratic Party. “Instead of working to earn the votes of voters from across the country they are trying to actually rig our election by pushing to redraw congressional districts mid decade in an unprecedented and undemocratic scheme that seeks to silence our voices.”

The Central Florida Democrats called for other Democratic states to redraw their own maps to push back — California is considering such a move — and said a “check on the government” was needed by creating an independent nationwide redistricting committee. Should Florida approve new maps, the Democratic leaders said they will fight back in court.

“Fair maps are the foundation of fair elections,” Frost said. “We have to fight fire with fire.”

Soto’s district is home to one of the state’s narrowest Democratic margins. South Florida Democrats Jared Moskowitz and Lois Frankel are others at similar risk if congressional districts are reconfigured.

Soto represents over 779,000 residents who live in House District 9, a majority of whom identify as Hispanic. The district stretches across Orange, Osceola and Polk counties and includes the booming cities of Kissimmee and St. Cloud. In 2024 he won 55.1% of the vote, a higher margin than 2022’s victory at 53.6% but lower than 2020 at 56%.

In a Monday interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Soto said he is especially concerned to protect the rights of Hispanics in his district under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed racial discrimination in voting and representation.

“Without seeing the map it’s hard to say,” Soto said, when asked whether he fears a less hospitable district. “Central Florida is already pretty gerrymandered but I remain ready for any sort of competitive general election.”

Redrawing maps can add Republicans to Democrats’ districts, change the boundaries so they’re in territory where voters don’t know them, or place two prominent Democrats in the same district to set up divisive primaries.

“I would be concerned about seats represented by Democrats in Congress not because I have partisan motives but because Republicans have already stated that their motive is to grow Republican representation,” State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith said in an interview with the Orlando Sentinel.

The current nationwide redistricting push began in Texas recently when Trump said he wanted five more Republican districts in the Lone Star State for the midterm 2026 elections. It was a brazen request — redistricting typically takes place only once a decade, to adjust for the latest census — and Democrats cried foul.

In an unprecedented move Texas Democrats fled their state to pause voting in the special election. That effort ended Monday when they returned after nearly two weeks.

Florida Republicans opened the door to redrawing this state’s maps earlier this month when State House Speaker Danny Perez announced he was putting together a committee to look at mid-decade redistricting.

Guillermo Smith applauded the Texas Democrats but said Florida legislators don’t have such opportunities to resist.

“We are inspired and we are grateful for what Texas state legislators have done,” Guillermo Smith said. “Unfortunately in Florida we do not have the same tools that they have in Texas. Republicans have the supermajority in both the Florida House and the Florida Senate.”

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