TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Legislature's leaders have sent a memorandum to lawmakers Monday ahead of a special session next week saying legislative staff will not draw new congressional maps.
Instead, House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Senate President Wilton Simpson are asking Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to give them one.
In an unprecedented move, DeSantis interjected himself into the once-a-decade process of drawing new political lines after the federal census by submitting his own congressional map.
When the Legislature didn't approve it, he vetoed the maps lawmakers sent him.
By saying it will wait for the governor, the Legislature is basically conceding the process to him.
"We are awaiting a communication from the governor's office with a map that he will support," the Republican leaders said in a joint memo. "Our intention is to provide the governor's office opportunities to present that information before House and Senate redistricting committees."
DeSantis previously submitted a map that would dismantle the districts of two Black U.S. House members — Reps. Al Lawson and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick. DeSantis' proposal also would likely give Republicans more Florida seats than the maps approved by the House and Senate. That would benefit DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, if he were to be elected to the White House.