Gov. DeSantis wants fix to ‘flawed census’ he says shorted Florida congressional representation

As the U.S. Commerce Department^[1] faces a federal lawsuit^[2] regarding the 2020 census, Gov. Ron DeSantis^[3] is suggesting a solution much simpler than going through court proceedings.

“Fix it,” DeSantis advised the defendants^[4], Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and acting U.S. Census Bureau Acting Director Ron S. Jarmin.

“The Commerce Department should just acknowledge the flawed census and correct it on its own. No need to go through litigation if both sides agree that states like Florida got shortchanged.”

The lawsuit was filed last month^[5] by the University of South Florida College Republicans and the Pinellas County Young Republicans. An answer is due Nov. 17, but the government shutdown could delay that, as is the case with many federal suits right now.

The plaintiffs request injunctive relief from a three-Judge panel, claiming “unconstitutional population counts” and “unlawful and unconstitutional statistical methods” on the grounds that “due to the COVID lockdown, individuals who might otherwise have resided in short-term institutional living arrangements were instead residing at their permanent household, located elsewhere.”

They demand “a new 2020 Census report that does not use statistical sampling or statistical methods.”

Questions remain as to whether a count that complies with even the 2020 practices could be done before qualifying deadlines.

In 2020, data collection^[6] took seven months, starting in March of that year and ending in October. Preliminary work started the previous year, including address verification. Yet it took until April 26, 2021, to deliver redistricting counts to the states.

DeSantis previously said the White House could “award^[7]” Florida a seat, as well as using an archaic ethnic slur and saying the state was “gypped^[8]” out of a seat. He has also blamed former President Barack Obama^[9], who served from 2009 to 2017, for Florida’s post-2020 census map that his office drew up and compelled the Legislature to approve ahead of the 2022 elections.

Florida was cheated, according to DeSantis, despite the 20-8 majority Republicans now hold in the congressional delegation. To put that supermajority in perspective, there are a little more than 1.3 million more Republicans than Democrats in a state with nearly 13.6 million^[10] registered voters.

“If you look at a state like Florida, we’re a red state with a few blue dots, right? And so if you do fair maps, Republicans are going to do much better,” he said, conflating land mass with population concentration.

House Speaker Daniel Perez^[11] has already announced plans for a Select Committee on Congressional Redistricting. That means the work has begun independently of DeSantis’ Office, and independently of any move to “fix” the previous Census that could emerge, in theory, as a compromise solution to the lawsuit.

Prior to taking this position, DeSantis acknowledged a more protracted process^[12] awaited.

“It’ll happen in the Spring, and the Legislature, I fully anticipate, will produce a revised congressional map — maybe with 29 seats, maybe with the current 28, maybe with the VRA district, maybe eliminating that,” he told interviewer Mark Levin^[13] back in August.

DeSantis previously argued that a Florida Supreme Court ruling that upheld^[14] the current congressional map means Florida should take another look at South Florida districts to see if any jurisdictions were crafted with race as a motivating factor.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court^[15] appears likely to look at a case (Louisiana v. Callais) that could overturn prohibitions against racial gerrymandering of the sort DeSantis has battled in recent years. It remains to be seen whether any ruling would affect the 2026 midterms, which could present troubles for the slim Republican Congressional majority if maps aren’t redrawn to protect it.