DESANTIS’ CENSUS PUSH: A PRETEXT FOR GERRYMANDERING FLORIDA’S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION

Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced a push to “correct” Florida’s alleged undercount in the 2020 Census, citing a 3.5% undercount and nearly two million new residents since 2019. He claims this is about fair representation and federal funding. In reality, it’s a politically motivated pretext to justify redrawing Florida’s congressional delegation in favor of Republicans.

If DeSantis wants to talk about the undercount, he should start by blaming himself. Florida’s shortfall wasn’t an accident, it was the predictable result of the state’s refusal to fund a full and inclusive census effort. While other states invested millions to reach hard-to-count communities, Florida offered virtually nothing. Grassroots groups like Equal Ground, already underresourced, were left to do the heavy lifting, battling misinformation and fear without state support. The cost was enormous: more than 750,000 Floridians went uncounted, stripping our state of billions in federal dollars for healthcare, schools, disaster relief, and infrastructure.

Now DeSantis is trying to turn his own failure into an excuse for a mid-decade redistricting scheme. He knows he can’t openly admit this is about partisan gain because Floridians already spoke loud and clear in 2010, passing the Fair Districts Amendments, a bipartisan safeguard requiring maps to be fair, impartial, and protective of minority voting rights. That’s why he has rebranded his plan as an issue of census “fairness.” But the truth is, his push mirrors Donald Trump’s demand for new maps designed to entrench political power.

We need your help, click the link below to email your legislators and tell them to protect our democracy and resist rigged maps that benefit one party over the other.