Florida petitions Census Bureau over extra congressional seat

DeSantis claims census data shorted Florida 1 congressional seat

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has written a letter to the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department asking for an extra seat in congress. Evyn Moon reports.

LAKE WORTH, Fla. - Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has written a letter to the Census Bureau and the Commerce Department asking for an extra seat in congress.

Governor Ron DeSantis has recently been vocal about this issue, saying that Florida was deprived of its rightful representation in congress after the 2020 census.

"Please fix this remuneration, and award Florida what we are entitled to: an extra seat in congress," he said during a news conference in Lake Worth on Wednesday afternoon.

Big picture view:

Florida currently has 28 seats in the House of Representatives, eight Democrats and 20 Republicans. An extra seat would also give Florida another vote in the electoral college.

PREVIOUS: Governor DeSantis says the U.S. is considering a new census over counting of undocumented immigrants

This would ultimately force Florida to redraw its congressional map, a move that is rare, but not unheard of.

"Legally, there is nothing stopping it from being done," said Dr. Robert Collins of Dillard University. "But, it's just never done before."

Gov. DeSantis news conference in Lake Worth

Governor Ron DeSantis held a press conference in Lake Worth on Wednesday afternoon.

The state legislature must redraw district boundaries after every Census is taken, which must be at least once every ten years.

Uthmeier, who accompanied the governor, says that he will be working with the commerce department and the president to get the ball rolling on the issue before the 2026 mid-terms.

Local perspective:

Also during Wednesday’s news conference, DeSantis announced that Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins is heading to California on Wednesday to extradite the suspect in the deadly crash on August 12 that killed three Floridians.

Harjinger Singh was taken into custody after investigators say he tried making an illegal U-turn in St. Lucie County on the Florida Turnpike, causing a minivan to collide with the side of his commercial semi-truck.

PREVIOUS: Semi-truck driver arrested after illegal U-turn kills 3 people on Florida Turnpike: FLHSMV

An investigation revealed that Singh had obtained a Commercial Driver's License in the state of California after crossing the Mexico border illegally.

"Tomorrow morning he (Collins) is going to take possession of this illegal alien, extradite him back to the state of Florida, and we are going to throw the book at him when he gets back here for what he did, so you can count on that," DeSantis emphasized.

He also says that he is looking into the company that hired Singh.

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