Could Republicans target Rep. Kathy Castor's seat in Florida redistricting?

Taking steps for redistricting in Florida

As Florida's leaders consider taking the unusual step of redistricting the state's congressional districts between censuses, eyes are turning to the seat that has long been held by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa). Evan Axelbank reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - As Florida's leaders consider taking the unusual step of redistricting the state's congressional districts between censuses, eyes are turning to the seat that has long been held by Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Tampa).

Could Republican leaders make it harder for her to win reelection? 

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There are Democratic-held seats on the east side of the state that could be more appealing to the Republicans to try to split up, ones that were won by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by under five points.

"I do think that we're gonna be looking at the pathways to be able to do the redistricting here in Florida," Governor Ron DeSantis said in July.

The backstory:

For now, the congressional delegation is twenty red seats to eight blue ones. 

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With Texas drawing new maps to add five Republican seats and California responding by potentially doing the same for Democrats, Florida could get on the train. 

So far, the governor has said they're most interested in redrawing the seat held by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a seat that saw Kamala Harris outvote Trump by 40 points. 

The governor insists it illegally pulls Black voters into one place.

"It mandates having race predominate, whereas neutrality really should be the constitutional standard," said DeSantis.

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But with Republicans now easily outpacing Democrats in voter registration statewide, and pulling ahead in former Democratic areas like Hillsborough County, redrawing Rep. Kathy Castor's district to pull Republican voters from neighboring districts could become appealing. 

What they're saying:

Jay Collins, the new lieutenant governor from Tampa, could be persuaded to run against Castor if the district were structurally friendlier to Republicans. 

Harris' margin over Trump was eight points in the district. 

FOX 13 asked Castor on Wednesday if she anticipated running against him. She said, "Ask me next year." 

Dig deeper:

The additional challenge for Republicans though is that Castor did even better than Harris did. While Harris won the district by eight, Castor won her seat by 15 points. 

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She's accusing Republicans of trying to change the rules in the middle of the game, and cushion themselves from policies that aren't working.

"Because their policies are so unpopular, they are afraid of losing the election," said Castor. "They're afraid of losing seats in Congress, so they're trying to rig the game."

The other side:

All districts in Florida, as ordered by the voters in a 2010 constitutional amendment, must be drawn without partisan purposes.

The governor has said changes in Florida's map could be justifiable because of population changes, which could net Florida another seat.

Jay Collins' political team did not immediately offer a comment as to whether he wants to run for congress against Castor, whether her district is redrawn or not.