Miami Herald/McClatchy: Florida gains one U.S. House seat after 2020 Census results are released

Florida’s clout in Congress and the state’s importance in presidential elections is growing — but the gain was smaller than anticipated.

The Census Bureau announced the initial results of the nationwide 2020 population count on Monday, and Florida gained one new U.S. House seat after a 14.6% population gain from 2010 to 2020. The state’s estimated population is now 21,538,187 as of April 1, 2020.

Florida’s population increase was greater than the national average of 7.4% over the last decade, but the state just missed out from gaining a second U.S. House seat, as many demographic experts predicted. Florida will now have 28 U.S. House members and 30 Electoral College votes, (adding the state’s two Senate seats) in the 2024 presidential election. …

The Florida redistricting battles after 2010 ultimately cost taxpayers $11 million and led to four trials, three special sessions in Tallahassee and eight rulings from the Florida Supreme Court. In 2017, the Florida House backed off an attempt to weaken a 2010 Florida Constitution amendment that requires districts to be drawn without the intention of hurting or helping a political party or to disenfranchise minorities. Instead, the Florida Legislature passed a narrower bill that enables candidates for Congress, the state Senate and state House to collect signatures from any registered voter in Florida during a year in which boundaries are uncertain — a process that will likely play out during the 2022 election cycle.

Dan Vicuna, the national redistricting manager with Common Cause, one of the groups that helped draw Florida’s current congressional map, said Florida has more time than other states to draw new boundaries despite Census delays caused by COVID-19.

“We’ll be keeping a watchful eye on whether the process is fair and transparent as required,” Vicuna said, adding that some states will face a deadline crunch to draw districts in time for the next election, “but fortunately Florida is not one of them.”

“There’s plenty of time for robust public participation,” Vicuna said.