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Newsom on Florida redistricting push: ‘It’d be a bad mistake if they move forward’

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by Tara Suter - 04/28/26 4:52 PM ET

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by Tara Suter - 04/28/26 4:52 PM ET

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) went after Florida’s current redistricting push, saying “it’d be a bad mistake if they move forward.”

The push, which comes on the heels of a vote in Virginia to approve a new congressional map that favors Democrats, is likely the last time a state will be able to redistrict before the November midterm election.

“It’s [a] predictable outcome, but it’ll be hopefully the end of this era, and this saga,” Newsom said in a video posted by journalist Nicholas Ballasy on YouTube Monday. “But, look, [President] Trump got beat at his own game, was a terrible mistake he made for the Republican Party.”

“Lot of good Republicans were — are going to, you know, be districted out, they’re no longer going to serve, collateral damage. Trump didn’t seem to give a damn about that, and ultimately, this didn’t work out in his favor, even if Ron moves forward,” he added, referring to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).

On Monday, DeSantis revealed a new set of congressional lines, with a map given by his office to Fox News Digital seemingly showing that the GOP could gain as many as four seats.

There are 20 Republicans and eight Democrats from Florida in the House, but the new map could allow Republicans an easier path to a potential 24-4 advantage, though some in the GOP have said the plan could potentially backfire against the party.

The Florida governor told Fox News that the current maps, despite the notable GOP advantage, are not fair.

“Florida got shortchanged in the 2020 Census, and we’ve been fighting for fair representation ever since,” DeSantis said.

“Our population has since grown dramatically, and we have moved from a Democrat majority to a 1.5 million Republican advantage,” he added. “Drawing maps based on race, which is reflected in our current congressional districts, is unconstitutional and should be prohibited.”

Newsom said in the video clip posted Monday of DeSantis that he did “think if he does move forward, not dissimilar to Texas, they’re going to put a lot of their Rs at risk, and it’s going to be a big blue wave election, so this thing could be, you know, I think, honestly, I’m not here to give DeSantis advice on this, they just want to — the win on the board, but it’s going to be short-term.”

“I think it’d be a bad mistake if they move forward as they’re suggesting they’re going to.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House and DeSantis’s office for comment.

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