How Florida designed a US House map aiming to give Republicans four more seats

Key Points:

• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new congressional map designed to give Republicans an advantage in up to four Democratic-held seats, following a US Supreme Court decision limiting the Voting Rights Act's reach in redistricting cases.
• The new map significantly alters several districts, including Rep. Darren Soto’s majority-Hispanic 9th District near Orlando, reducing its Hispanic population and extending it into rural Republican areas, and splitting Rep. Kathy Castor’s 14th District in Tampa and St. Petersburg.
• In South Florida, the map reduces Democratic-leaning seats from five to three, forcing Democrats Reps. Jared Moskowitz and Debbie Wasserman Schultz into difficult decisions about where to run amid more Republican-friendly districts.
• The redistricting plan faces legal challenges from voting rights groups citing violations of Florida’s constitutional restrictions on partisan gerrymandering, though recent Supreme Court rulings may complicate such efforts.
• Some Republican incumbents, like Reps. Cory Mills and Maria Elvira Salazar, face varying levels of risk under the new map, with Salazar's Miami-based district remaining largely unchanged but potentially competitive due to shifting Latino voter sentiment.