As the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is now reportedly watching one case more closely than any other — a Louisiana redistricting dispute that could have sweeping implications for how states draw congressional maps and for the role of race in American elections.
The case, Louisiana v. Callais, challenges whether creating a second Black-majority congressional district in that state amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
A three-judge panel ruled in May that the map violated the Constitution, and the justices will hear fresh arguments on October 15, examining whether it breaches the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
DeSantis, who has long argued that district lines should be drawn based on population rather than race, says the decision could have a direct impact on Florida’s congressional boundaries — and on the broader question of whether race-conscious redistricting should remain permissible under federal law.
“As the Supreme Court’s term kicks off, the question of whether it is unconstitutional to racially gerrymander congressional districts will be decided,” DeSantis wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “If the Court rules that racial gerrymandering violates the Constitution, that would have implications for mid-decade redistricting in a number of states, including Florida. We anticipate the Court to agree with the (Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice) that it does, in fact, violate the Constitution.”
DeSantis’ position places him squarely within a growing conservative movement to curb the use of race as a factor in redistricting, a practice critics say has hardened political divisions and undermined equal representation.
The Louisiana case stems from maps passed in 2021, which voting rights groups argued diluted the power of Black voters in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
After courts struck those maps down, Louisiana lawmakers approved a new plan in 2024 that added a second majority-Black district. That, in turn, triggered a lawsuit from a group of white voters who contended that the new map amounted to an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Now, the Supreme Court’s ruling could either affirm or dismantle the long-standing legal framework allowing race-based considerations in redistricting — a precedent that DeSantis has openly challenged.
In Florida, DeSantis has already pressed for mid-decade redistricting, arguing that the current congressional map — drawn under his watch — could be revisited if the Court strikes down race-based districting. He has also called for a new U.S. census, claiming the state was “robbed” of an additional congressional seat after the last national count.
“A mid-decade census would be unprecedented,” DeSantis acknowledged, but he and allies argue that Florida’s rapid growth demands a fresh accounting. President Donald Trump echoed the call in August, though it remains unclear what steps the Department of Commerce, which oversees the Census Bureau, has taken.
Still, timing poses a major hurdle. Florida’s candidate qualifying period ends in June, leaving little room for lawmakers to act if the Court issues a ruling later in the spring.
House Speaker Daniel Perez, a Miami Republican, has created a special committee to study redistricting, though it has yet to meet.
For DeSantis, the stakes are both legal and political. A Supreme Court ruling that limits race-based mapmaking would not only vindicate his long-held argument — that redistricting should be colorblind — but also potentially open the door to reshaping Florida’s electoral map in the middle of the decade.
The Court’s eventual decision, expected sometime next year, could redefine the rules of representation in one of the most politically contested states in the country — and, in the process, deliver a significant victory for those who say the Constitution demands equal treatment for every voter, regardless of race.
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