Florida Judge Eyes Consolidating Map Challenges as Courts Weigh Block on 2026 Elections

A Leon County judge moved Tuesday to potentially merge three separate legal challenges to Florida's new congressional map, setting the stage for a Friday hearing that could freeze the cartography before the 2026 midterm elections reshape the Treasure Coast's place in Washington.

Leon County Circuit Judge Joshua Hawkes, appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, issued an order asking parties in all three cases whether they objected to consolidation, giving them until the close of business Wednesday to respond. "The Court will assume there is no objection to consolidation in the absence of response," Hawkes wrote.

The stakes could not be higher for Florida voters. The map, drawn by DeSantis' staff and approved by the Legislature in a special session, leaves only four of Florida's 28 congressional districts where a majority of voters backed Democrat Kamala Harris over Republican Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential race. If the map holds, the number of Democrats representing Florida in the U.S. House could fall from eight to four — a shift with direct consequences for federal funding and representation priorities touching the Treasure Coast.

The three lawsuits — one filed by Equal Ground Education Fund alongside several Florida voters, a second backed by the Campaign Legal Center and the UCLA Voting Rights Project, and a third brought by Common Cause, the League of Women Voters of Florida, and the League of United Latin American Citizens — all argue the map violates the Fair Districts amendment Florida voters added to the state constitution in 2010, which bars partisan gerrymandering and sets criteria for minority voting power.

State attorneys defending the map have argued the Fair Districts amendment should be disregarded, pointing to a 2025 Florida Supreme Court ruling that weakened provisions related to minority community voting power. Plaintiffs strongly push back. "The Governor's argument is meritless," reads a brief from the Equal Ground plaintiffs, adding the theory "fails at every step."

The third case, filed by Common Cause and allies, was assigned to Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey, originally appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush. Plaintiffs in that case asked Dempsey on Tuesday for a separate hold on the map, arguing that using it in upcoming elections would cause "irreparable harm from the resulting violation of their fundamental voting rights," court filings show.

Leon County Circuit Judge Lee Marsh, the original judge on the Equal Ground case, recused himself after Secretary of State Cord Byrd flagged a connection between Marsh and Mohammad Jazil, the attorney defending the map for the state. The case was then reassigned to Hawkes.

Friday's hearing, requested by Equal Ground attorneys, will be the first test of whether any court will pump the brakes on a map critics call the most aggressive partisan redraw in Florida's modern history.

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