At the Sept. 24 Legislative Delegation meeting at St. Petersburg College, residents blasted Florida’s redistricting maps, accusing lawmakers of undermining fair representation and silencing marginalized communities. Their concerns come amid efforts to redistrict once again ahead of midterm elections.
“It is inappropriate for candidates to choose who votes for them, rather than voters choosing who they will vote for,” said resident Kathy O’Gara, who spoke at the podium during the meeting.
O’Gara’s sentiment echoed broad criticism of the maps redrawn under Gov. Ron DeSantis and effective since 2022. Locally, the changes split St. Petersburg, pairing its east and south sides with District 14 across Tampa Bay, and flipping District 14 to Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna.
Statewide, the changes delivered the GOP additional congressional seats (a 20 to 8 Republican-majority), four more than before.
In July 2025, Florida’s Supreme Court voted 5-1 to uphold the new congressional map, overruling a lower court’s decision that the maps violated Florida’s Constitution. The overruling drew scrutiny, as the majority of Florida’s Supreme Court were appointed by DeSantis. That legal backdrop set the stage for heated testimony at the Delegation meeting.
Simon Adams of Equal Ground, a Black-led non-partisan voting rights organization, told the Delegation the map “lost two Black congressional access districts” and was “allowed to pass” despite “diluting Black voters.”
Deborah Robinson of Black Voters Matter added that the district lines break up communities, making it harder to direct resources effectively when the concerns of residents diverge from the officials representing them.
Their groups, along with the St. Pete NAACP, Delta Sigma Theta Clearwater Alumnae Chapter and Community Development and Training Center, Inc. (CDAT), are part of a growing coalition challenging redistricting practices as discriminatory despite Florida’s Supreme Court verdict.
Public concern over redistricting may have sparked in 2022, but it is accelerating amid both state and national efforts to allegedly strengthen the GOP’s grip on key districts ahead of the 2026 midterm and way ahead of the next scheduled redistricting, which isn’t until 2030.
48% of Floridians oppose mid-cycle redistricting – according to a poll commissioned by gubernatorial candidate David Jolly in early September – giving it a loose two-point lead in popularity, but those points come with a potential four-point margin of error, so it’s virtually an even split.
As the Legislative Delegation meeting is an opportunity for Senators and Congresspersons to listen to the public, they did not respond to concerns during the meeting, and they did not immediately respond to questions from Poliverse. This article will be updated accordingly.