Overview

• In a 5–1 decision, the court rejected challenges to reinstating the north Florida district that previously united Black communities from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee
• Chief Justice Carlos Muniz wrote that restoring the district would amount to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering under the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause
• The ruling preserves a congressional map that gives Republicans a 20–8 advantage over Democrats through the 2026 midterm elections
• Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter and urged the case be remanded to a lower court to allow challengers to propose alternative district maps
• Voting rights advocates including the National Redistricting Foundation called the decision “alarming” and signaled intentions to pursue further litigation