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Last year, Texas announced its intention to redraw its congressional maps ahead of the midterms. Ever since then, blue and red states across the nation have been locked in a battle to see who can flip more House seats to their side before elections begin in November.
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In Florida, for example, Governor Ron DeSantis ordered his state’s legislature to draw new maps that would benefit Republicans. Recently, however, two Florida voters filed a petition with the state’s Supreme Court in a bid to stop the effort.
From The Hill:
A Thursday filing before the Florida Supreme Court argues that DeSantis does not have the authority to order the state Legislature to draw new maps.
DeSantis last month issued a proclamation calling a spring special legislative session focused on congressional redistricting, pushing Florida further into the nationwide battle over district lines ahead of November’s high-stakes midterms.
The Florida voters, Elizabeth Pines and Eugene Pettis, contend that DeSantis and Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R), who issued a related directive, unconstitutionally attempted to use “unilateral authority to bind the Legislature into passing legislation.”
Governor DeSantis has set a special election for April, though it’s not clear if this will be allowed to move forward. According to The Hill, observers are anxiously waiting for a Supreme Court ruling on Louisiana’s new proposed congressional map that could impact the districts in Florida.
Meanwhile, Democrats in Virginia have put forward a new map that would leave the state with 10 blue districts and one red one. Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed legislation on Friday allowing this map to move forward, and voters will now face a referendum on the redistricting on April 21.
These are not the only states working to redistrict ahead of the election. According to USA Today, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, and New York are redrawing maps in an attempt to help their preferred political party. Meanwhile, Republicans in Indiana and Kentucky shut down Trump backed redistricting efforts, and a separate effort in Democratic-led Maryland has stalled.
According to USA Today, the House of Representatives is currently made up of 218 Republicans and 214 Democrats, with three seats, two formerly held by Republicans and one formerly held by a Democrat, currently vacant. If the 7 states mentioned above all succeed in their efforts, Republicans could potentially see a net gain of one to three seats. This is in addition to the changes being implemented in both Texas and California which will help Republicans and Democrats respectively.
As this redistricting battle continues, let’s pray for fair maps and fair elections ahead of what is sure to be an extremely consequential midterm season!
How are you praying into the redistricting battle? Share your thoughts and prayers below.
(Excerpt from The Hill. Photo Credit: Douglas Rissing/Getty Images Signature)
