Ron DeSantis just gave Democrats one warning about Florida maps that sent them into a fit of rage

Democrats thought they had Florida locked down with their gerrymandering schemes.

But they never counted on Ron DeSantis fighting back.

And Ron DeSantis just gave Democrats one warning about Florida maps that sent them into a fit of rage.

DeSantis drops the hammer on Democrat gerrymandering games

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on Sean Hannity’s show Tuesday night with a message that had Democrats scrambling to their calculators.

The Governor announced that Florida has every legal right to redraw its congressional maps – and the numbers don’t look good for the Left.

“We still have a basis to redistrict in Florida,” DeSantis told Hannity. “There’s some racial gerrymandering that’s still lingering that we have to correct per a recent Florida Supreme Court decision.”¹

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But here’s the part that really caught Democrats’ attention.

DeSantis revealed just how dramatically Florida’s political landscape has shifted during his tenure as Governor.

The numbers tell a story that should terrify every Democrat strategist in Washington, D.C.

“When I got elected governor in 2018, there were 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans,” DeSantis explained. “Today, there are 1.3 million more registered Republicans than Democrats.”²

That’s a swing of 1.6 million voters in just seven years.

Obama’s gerrymandering legacy comes back to haunt Democrats

DeSantis didn’t hold back when explaining how Florida ended up with unfair maps in the first place.

He pointed the finger directly at Barack Obama and former Attorney General Eric Holder for their nationwide gerrymandering efforts.

“Well, Obama and Holder gerrymandered brutally across the country in this decade’s census,” DeSantis stated. “They actually even got into Florida. And I had to veto the legislature’s map, and I ended up proposing one which was a much fairer map and much better.”³

The Governor highlighted how Democrats perfected the art of gerrymandering in blue states while Republicans played by the rules for far too long.

California, Illinois, Massachusetts, and New Jersey all carved up their maps to eliminate Republican representation despite significant GOP vote totals.

“California is gerrymandered,” DeSantis explained. “They have a commission, but that’s a ruse. They have Democrats on the commission, liberal independents, and liberal Republicans.”⁴

Now Republicans are finally fighting back using the same tactics Democrats have deployed for years.

Florida’s population boom creates redistricting opportunity

The massive population growth Florida has experienced creates additional justification for new congressional maps.

“The state has grown by many millions of people,” DeSantis noted. “And so our districts are not properly apportioned.”⁵

DeSantis also revealed that Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 census and his administration is working with Trump’s Commerce Department to secure an additional congressional seat the state rightfully deserves.

“We’re hoping that they’re going to be able to do that to give us that extra seat that we should have had,” DeSantis said. “That would obviously force us to have to redistrict.”⁶

The Governor emphasized that Florida’s transformation from purple battleground to solid red state means the current maps don’t reflect the political reality on the ground.

“Florida has gone very red during my tenure as governor,” DeSantis stated. “Our population has grown, and we have every right to be able to do new districts.”⁷

Republicans could pick up significant seats

When pressed by Hannity about how many additional Republican seats new maps might create, DeSantis remained strategically vague.

But he did paint a picture that suggests substantial gains are possible.

“If you look at a state like Florida, we’re a red state with a few blue dots, right?” DeSantis explained. “And so if you do fair maps, Republicans are going to do much better.”⁸

The Governor pointed out how Democrats typically maintain power by breaking up urban areas and stretching districts into more conservative regions.

“Democrats have to take the cities and break them up and put those districts into more red areas so that they’re able to be competitive,” DeSantis said. “And that’s what they did in Illinois. They take all these voters in Chicago, and they draw districts stretching out all across the state.”⁹

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Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez has already set up a special committee focused on congressional redistricting, indicating the process is moving forward regardless of federal developments.

The committee will exclude people who might want to run for Congress in the districts they’re helping to draw, ensuring the process maintains integrity.

What this means for the national political landscape

Republicans currently hold a 20-8 majority in Florida’s congressional delegation, but DeSantis believes new maps would create even “fairer” representation given the state’s dramatic political shift.

With primaries still more than a year away, DeSantis indicated his administration will work with the legislature during the spring session to develop new maps.

“This will probably be something that we’ll work with the legislature on in the spring and be able to deliver, I think, you know, really strong maps,” DeSantis concluded.¹⁰

The timing works perfectly for Republicans – they can implement new maps well before the 2026 election cycle kicks into high gear.

For Democrats, the prospect of losing even more seats in a state they once considered competitive represents another major blow to their already diminished national prospects.

Obama’s gerrymandering chickens are finally coming home to roost – and Democrats have nobody to blame but themselves for teaching Republicans how to play hardball politics.

¹ Sean Hannity, “DeSantis: We Have The Basis To Redistrict In Florida, Lingering ‘Racial Gerrymandering’ We Have To Correct,” Fox News, August 12, 2025.

² – ¹⁰ Ibid.