The Legislature appears likely to agree this week.
U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody fully supports the congressional reapportionment plan proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, citing a population influx that has dramatically changed the state since the process was completed four years ago.
“There’s no other state in the nation that is more justified in looking at a mid-decade redistricting than Florida,” Moody said on the “Mornings with Maria” show.
“I think about just the last five years in our population growth. You have people from all over the country, from ruined, failed blue states that are just seeking a place where government wants to actually protect their citizens, and I know, keep government out of their lives as much as possible. In fact, Gov. DeSantis and I worked very hard to do just that during the COVID epidemic, which is why so many people are now fleeing to Florida.”
The proposed map, which is expected to be voted up by the supermajority Senate and already cleared the House, appears poised to add up to four new Republican seats, leaving just four of the 28 congressional districts with Democratic voter registration advantages.
Moody, a former Florida Attorney General appointed to the U.S. Senate last year, said “such a large shift in population, and where those people are moving … merits taking a look at that.”
DeSantis has said the state is malapportioned and denies allegations that this process is an attempt to make up for aggressive redistricting efforts in Democrat-dominated states like Virginia and California. Florida bars political gerrymandering through its Fair Districts amendment, approved by voters in 2010.
Moody’s statement drew a response from her likely November opponent.
“Ashley Moody is wrong. Nothing ‘justifies’ this scheme to take voting power out of the hands of Floridians. Floridians voted for fair districts,” said Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Alex Vindman. “Ashley Moody is supporting corruption — plain and simple.”
