DeSantis' Redistricting Map Helped GOP Win House Majority Republican gubernatorial candidate for Florida Ron DeSantis speaks during an election night watch party at the Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on November 8, 2022. (Giorgio Viera / AFP via Getty)
By Charlie McCarthy | Thursday, 17 November 2022 02:52 PM EST
Republicans in Florida and nationally are praising Gov. Ron DeSantis for pushing lawmakers to adopt his redistricting of congressional maps, Politico reports.
The Florida Supreme Court in June declined to block the state's congressional redistricting plan, which had been implemented by DeSantis.
The governor had vetoed a map drawn by the Republican-led Florida Legislature and then crafted a plan that boosted Republican leaning seats to 20 out of 28, four more than the plan drawn by GOP lawmakers.
That court victory allowed the once-a-decade congressional redistricting cycle to match the Census' findings.
Although Republican lawmakers initially were reluctant to support DeSantis' mission, many now are praising the governor for encouraging his own party to approve his congressional maps, Politico reports.
Newsmax projects Republicans have won 219 seats – a net gain of 9 – and Democrats 209 in the next Congress, with seven midterms races still undecided.
"Republicans in Congress owe a big thank you to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose insistence on redrawing the state’s congressional districts led to a four-seat pickup in the U.S. House on Tuesday," said Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.
"Florida now has 20 Republican members of the House as a result of the governor’s insistence on his maps. Only one state has more Republicans in Congress."
Republicans controlling the House likely will result in Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., becoming speaker.
"The slim new Republican majority in the House would have been even smaller without Florida," Buchanan said.
"McCarthy needs to send DeSantis and [Lee] Zeldin fruit baskets," GOP lobbyist Liam Donovan told Politico.
The four additional GOP Florida seats, plus Republicans performing better than expected in New York, contributed greatly to the Republicans' House majority. The New York GOP flipped four seats.
"The gain in Florida and New York made a big difference for the majority," said Congressional Leadership Fund President Dan Conston. "Florida’s new map helped quite a bit."
Several groups have gone to court to get the current maps tossed for future election cycles. They claim the DeSantis-drawn maps were designed purely for political reasons.
DeSantis earned nearly 60% of the vote on Nov. 8 to win reelection by defeating former governor Charlie Crist.
The dominating victory has propelled DeSantis, already touted as a possible 2024 GOP presidential nomination contender, even higher in the eyes of many Republicans.
He generally has been considered the chief threat to former President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday night announced his run to reclaim the nation's top office.