The Florida House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to approve an aggressive new map that would redraw the state’s congressional districts and could give Republicans up to four new seats.
The vote came about an hour after the Supreme Court issued a decision limiting a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; the case was the main justification that Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, used to redraw Florida’s map.
State representatives passed the map on an 83-28 vote along party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats against. They had planned to vote later in the day, but no Republicans other than the bill sponsor chose to debate the map on the House floor, leading to a rushed vote after little public discussion. Republicans hold supermajorities in the State House and Senate.
In a chaotic scene as the vote began, State Representative Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat who is running for the United States Senate, protested on the House floor. Dressed in a bright jumpsuit and holding a magenta bullhorn, she walked up and down the center aisle.
“It is out of order!” she yelled about the vote. “You are violating the Constitution!”
Democratic state representatives had asked to delay the vote so that they could read the Supreme Court decision, but Republicans in the chamber disagreed. Across the Capitol in the State Senate, the Republican Senate president did call for a brief break so that lawmakers could digest the decision.
Three Republican state senators voted against the map in a committee hearing on Tuesday. But the Senate is still expected to pass the map later on Wednesday and send it to Mr. DeSantis’s desk.
Under the state’s current map, its congressional delegation consists of 20 Republicans and seven Democrats, after an eighth Democrat resigned last week.
Patricia Mazzei is the lead reporter for The Times in Miami, covering Florida and Puerto Rico.
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