In the wake of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ new redistricting plan for Florida, Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL) posted on X, “DeSantis declared war against Florida’s 1.3M Puerto Ricans. We are American citizens, our people served and died for this country, and we vote.” Soto was referencing a new redistricting map that divides concentrated Puerto Ricans communities among voting districts, lessening the power of Florida’s Puerto Rican voters to make a unified political statement. Soto’s 9th district seat is threatened, and some reporting suggests that he was specifically targeted by the new map.
What is redistricting?
Residents of states are divided into districts. Each district votes for its own representatives. Redistricting changes the individual voters in a district. The 2026 redistricting map specifically targets Democratic districts in an open effort to increase the number of Republican representatives from Florida in Congress.
The map divides Puerto Rican voters among four districts instead of just two, as the previous map did. The plan is to give Democrats just four districts instead of the current eight seats they hold in Congress.
This process is sometimes called “gerrymandering ” after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry, who used redistricting to create strangely shaped districts that reminded a political cartoonist of a salamander. It may look more like a basilisk or a cockatrice, but the name “gerrymander” stuck. The term is used to refer to redistricting to give an advantage to one political party over another.
Florida’s state constitution forbids this. An aide to the governor says that political parties were considered in drawing the map.
How does this affect Puerto Rican voters?
Puerto Rican voters in the states don’t all vote the same way. Third-generation Puerto Rican New Yorkers naturally have different views from recent arrivals in Florida. What’s more, political parties in Puerto Rico are different from the national political parties in the states. Puerto Rican political parties are distinguished by their positions on Puerto Rico’s political status rather than left or right wing positions. Recent arrivals are likely to choose candidates on the basis of their attitudes toward Puerto Rico, just as other immigrants have historically done, rather than to vote Republican or Democratic.
However, Rep. Soto is the first Puerto Rican to represent Florida in Congress, and a strong supporter of equality for Puerto Rico through statehood. He has talked about introducing a status bill like the Puerto Rico Status Act in Congress. If he were to lose his seat, the Island’s chances of escaping the colonial territory status would diminish.
Puerto Rican voters in Florida support Soto. The new map dilutes the influence of Puerto Ricans in District 9, and brings in more Republican voters who are not of Puerto Rican heritage and who may vote for Soto’s opponent on party lines.
