Al Lawson

Activists are set to rally outside the Capitol to oppose the plan, which some Black Democrats are calling a “racist tactic.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis has submitted a congressional map that lawmakers are expected to take up when they meet in Tallahassee from April 19-22. The drawing would eliminate African American Democratic Rep. Al Lawson's district.

Gov. Ron DeSantis says he won't support a congressional map that includes a U.S. House district in North Florida where minority voters can elect a candidate of their choice.

The House voted 67-47 to approve an unusual plan that includes a “primary” map and a “backup” map, which would be used if courts reject the primary version.

The House’s fallback map has Democratic U.S. Representative Al Lawson’s district looking a lot like it does today.

The governor threatened to veto a congressional map that would maintain Democratic Congressman Al Lawson’s district, which is designed to help elect a Black candidate and stretches more than 200 miles from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee.

DeSantis is pushing to eliminate north Florida’s only U.S. House district where Black voters can elect a candidate of their choice. The legislature, however, is working on a plan that keeps the 5th Congressional District’s current configuration largely intact.

One of the most controversial aspects of his map is that it would carve up African American Congressman Al Lawson’s north Florida district.

While the legislative maps moved forward, work on the congressional map has paused.

The DeSantis proposal seeks to create 18 districts that went for President Trump in 2020 and would make vast changes to historically Black districts held by Democrats Al Lawson in North Florida and Val Demings in the Orlando area.