U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor (front, left) and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch. Castor will no longer represent the city under Florida’s new congressional map. Photo by Mark Parker.
Political leaders across Tampa Bay are reacting with bewilderment to a newly redrawn congressional map that has urban St. Petersburg sharing a massive district with rural DeSoto County, nearly 90 miles away.
Gov. Ron DeSantis first unveiled the redistricting map to Fox News on Monday, as lawmakers gathered in Tallahassee for a special session. Republican legislators, who hold a supermajority, approved what voting rights groups and Democrats believe is blatant partisan gerrymandering on Wednesday, less than 48 hours later.
The map leaves Tampa Bay, home to approximately 3.4 million people, without a Democratic-leaning congressional district. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who currently represents much of Tampa and South St. Petersburg, would find herself competing for a seat that instead extends east to Plant City and unincorporated Hillsborough County if the hurried changes survive inevitable legal challenges.
“What they did to St. Petersburg is so disrespectful,” Castor told Power Broker Magazine. “Putting downtown St. Pete – all the way over to Treasure Island and St. Pete Beach, all of Bay Pines – and connecting that with Hardee and DeSoto Counties, just to eliminate the one lone Democratic district on the entire west coast of Florida.”
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, in a letter to Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez, said the map would shift representation for “dense and historically connected communities” into the hands of residents from multiple counties with “vastly different economic and demographic profiles.”
A close up view of how redistricting affects Tampa Bay. Image: Screengrab, davesredistricting.org.
Welch noted that underserved neighborhoods, now part of Florida’s 14th Congressional District, share priorities regarding affordable housing, transportation, coastal resilience, economic development, and access to social services. The southern half of St. Petersburg is now in a redrawn 16th Congressional District, which runs south to Manatee County before a sharp turn east to encompass a wide swath of rural, inland areas.
“Splitting our city and (Pinellas) County unnecessarily would weaken the ability of our residents to advocate effectively on the issues that matter most,” Welch wrote. “The state constitution prohibits drawing districts that favor a political party, requires districts to be compact, and requires respect for existing community boundaries whenever possible.”
The map adds four statewide Republican leaning districts to the 20 of 28 already held by the party. President Donald Trump has asked Republican-led states to help the party retain control of Congress through atypical mid-decade redistricting.
DeSantis, who is serving out his final year as governor, contends that Florida’s existing congressional map “has been distorted by considerations of race,” according to a letter sent by his general counsel to lawmakers. “The people of Florida have been deprived of appropriate representation in the U.S. House of Representatives,” it states.
The letter also notes that Florida gained only one additional House seat after the 2020 census, despite substantial growth since 2010. However, the redrawn map cannot reflect new population numbers as the U.S. Census has yet to conduct an update.
Florida’s voter-approved Fair District Amendment, adopted in 2010, explicitly prohibits redistricting to favor one political party. Castor noted that DeSantis unveiled a “red and blue map that obviously shows this is a partisan exercise.”
“Can you believe that?” Castor continued. “He gave that map to Fox News before he gave it to the Legislature.”
Florida’s current congressional map (left), and one as unveiled by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
During Wednesday’s debates, State Sen. Darryl Rouson said the “poorest neighborhoods in St. Pete, that have always struggled to be heard, will find themselves in a district contorted in such an unnatural way that they seem more like an addendum, or an afterthought, than full participants in the democratic process.”
Rouson also expressed concern with the redistricting process, which typically involves dozens of statewide public hearings. Lawmakers and residents first saw the map, color-coded by political party, on Monday.
Responding to the state’s claims that the current map was drawn with consideration to demographics, Rouson questioned if it was now “race neutral to split up communities made up largely of minority voters in ways that geographically make no sense otherwise?”
“Are we to understand that these (new) race-neutral maps coincidentally split up predominantly Black voters in a way that just happens to be politically advantageous to one partisan group?” Rouson added.
Florida’s 15th Congressional District spans from Ybor City to rural Citrus County under the new map. Castor called the sweeping changes “insulting” to voters, particularly those throughout Tampa Bay.
Castor blamed unpopular Republican policies for the redistricting. She said people are struggling to afford the soaring cost of living, and Trump is afraid of losing a House majority in November’s midterm elections.
“This is purely partisan gerrymandering,” Castor said. “I anticipate now that a number of good government groups, like the League of Women Voters, are going to ask the court for an injunction and to declare the maps unconstitutional under the Florida Fair District Amendment.”
Lawmakers have yet to complete a budget, and DeSantis is waiting until June to call another special session. Castor said the term-limited governor is appeasing the president and prioritizing redistricting over helping constituents afford their electric and property insurance bills.
Castor said she would likely run for reelection in a drastically reconfigured District 14. She also pledged to “continue to work my heart out for St. Petersburg.”
Dismayed residents should hold Republican state lawmakers accountable at the ballot box, Castor said, “especially in Pinellas County.” She noted that they took an oath to uphold the Florida Constitution.
For now, those affected can still “count on me,” Castor said. She will be in St. Petersburg over the weekend.
“I love St. Petersburg; we have a long history together,” Castor concluded. “I’m their advocate, and I’m going to continue to stand up for them – no matter what.”
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