TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Leon County circuit judge on Tuesday declined to block Florida's new congressional map from being used in the 2026 elections, handing a setback to voting rights groups that argue the districts were drawn to illegally favor Republicans.
Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes denied motions for a preliminary injunction filed by multiple groups challenging the map, including Equal Ground, Common Cause Florida, the League of Women Voters of Florida and LULAC. The groups said after the ruling that they will continue fighting the map, including taking the case to the Florida Supreme Court if necessary.
The lawsuit centers on whether the new congressional districts violate Florida's Fair Districts Amendments, which prohibit drawing districts with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent. The plaintiffs argue the map is an "overtly partisan" gerrymander pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and approved by the Legislature.
But Hawkes found the challengers had not met the high legal bar required for early court intervention before a full trial.
"The Court concludes that from this record, there is insufficient evidence of impermissible intent to show substantial likelihood of success on the merits," Hawkes wrote.
The judge also pointed to timing, writing that Florida's election machinery is already underway. The state's primary is less than three months away, and the general election is less than six months away. Hawkes said the public interest weighs more heavily in favor of certainty than a last-minute judicial order replacing the new map with one previously discarded by state leaders.
"The public interest weighs more in favor of certainty than a haphazard judicial mandate of discarded maps," Hawkes wrote.
The ruling does not end the case. Hawkes wrote that the denial of preliminary relief "does not preclude the entry of a final injunction at the conclusion of a trial on the merits."
In a statement, voting rights groups seized on that point Tuesday, saying they remain committed to getting the map thrown out.
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"Forcing voters to accept rigged election maps undermines the democratic process in which Floridians overwhelmingly rejected the use of partisan gerrymandering," said Bradley Heard, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. "While this map unfortunately remains in place for now, it by no means changes the reality that this is an unconstitutional gerrymander under the Fair Districts Amendments that the people passed in 2010."
Amy Keith, executive director of Common Cause Florida, said the groups will "exhaust all legal options" to make sure "a map this partisan does not last the rest of this decade."
Jessica Lowe-Minor, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, called the decision disappointing but said it was "only a short part of a long journey to ensure that the will of the voters is respected."
The order notes that plaintiffs argued the case was unusual because the maps were redrawn mid-cycle by a single map drawer who used partisan data. Defendants countered that improper intent had not been shown and that the court should not impose an injunction before trial.
Hawkes wrote that the question of whether Florida’s Fair Districts Amendments remain constitutionally viable is premature at this stage of the case.
The judge also found it would be improper, on the current record, to force the state back to the 2022 congressional map. He wrote that if the plaintiffs ultimately prevail, the proper remedy would likely be ordering the Legislature to redraw the map in a constitutional manner, not having the court impose a specific map itself.
The case is now expected to continue toward a trial on the merits, while the new congressional districts remain in place for the 2026 election cycle.
