Rove warns of proposed Florida Republican gerrymander ‘risk’

Republican strategist Karl Rove on Friday warned that a proposed Florida Republican gerrymander could be a “risk” for the GOP’s control over the state’s House delegation.

“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Rove about a similar measure that Virginia voters passed during a special election on Tuesday that would increase Democrats’ chances of winning seats in the Old Dominion in the November midterm elections.

Kilmeade asked if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) should “go for it” and push for a redistricting session that could benefit Republicans. Rove replied that “it’s up to the people of Florida” but warned that Democrats “are ahead” in the multistate effort to redraw maps.

“If Florida moves like it can, the Republicans will at least be even,” he continued. “But there’s a risk there, because what they’re going to do is they’re going to have to take Republican votes out of Republican districts and put them into Democrat districts.”

Rove said this will “lower the numbers for some incumbent Republicans, and they may lose a seat or two.”

Sunshine State lawmakers are scheduled to convene next week in what could be the GOP’s last attempt to redraw a red state’s maps ahead of the midterms. But some Republicans have warned DeSantis against acting on any redistricting measure, pointing to recent Democratic victories across the country and to the Florida Constitution’s clear anti-gerrymandering language.

DeSantis said in December that redrawing Florida’s congressional maps was “going to have to be addressed.” But Florida lawmakers meeting next week will only use 2020 population data in the attempt at redrawing the map.

Texas started the nationwide redistricting battle last year. Just a few blue states have fought back to give Democrats a chance, with California passing a measure during a special election last November, followed by Virginia this week. A court-ordered block to Utah Republicans’ attempt to redistrict their state has offered Democrats the chance to win one seat in that state.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) warned Florida Republicans against changing its maps, telling them while talking to reporters on Wednesday to “F around and find out.” He dubbed the remapping effort a “dummymander” that could inadvertently benefit Democratic candidates. Jeffries told Punchbowl News that Democrats will target eight sitting Florida House Republicans’ seats if the redistricting effort proceeds.

DeSantis called on Jeffries to come to Florida, saying he will “pay for you to come down to Florida and campaign.”

“There’s nothing that could be better for Republicans in Florida than to see Jeffries … everywhere around this state,” he said at a press conference. “Voters will not like what they see, they will not want that type of ideology, and so the door is open, the invitation’s out there.”

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