- December 4, 2025
TALLAHASSEE — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, contending this week that the state was “robbed” of a congressional seat by the Biden administration in the 2020 census, backed President Donald Trump’s call for a new census count to fix “deep-state manipulations.”
Or, at least, Uthmeier said Florida should get additional seats or money based on an audit of the 2020 count.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed Uthmeier as attorney general in February, is floating the idea of asking state lawmakers to do a mid-decade redrawing of congressional districts as Republicans try to squeeze out more seats to keep control of the U.S. House in 2026 and beyond.
Meanwhile, Uthmeier on Monday, Aug. 11, wrote to U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and suggested that the Census Bureau use data gathered from the 2022 survey to “correct” the 2020 count. The number of congressional seats in each state is determined by census population numbers, which also affect how federal money is divvied up among states.
“We should not have to wait for the next complete, 50-state census hoping that — this time — the bureau will get it right and allocate the congressional seats and federal funding allocations to which they are entitled,” Uthmeier wrote.
After the 2020 census, Florida gained one congressional seat, which was less than expected, amid concerns that Florida, Arizona and Texas undercounted Hispanic residents. Among possible reasons: a lack of outreach and a chilling effect because of an effort to include a citizenship question on the once-a-decade count.
The follow-up 2022 survey determined Florida had an estimated 3.48 percent undercount in the census, the fourth-highest rate in the country behind Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. Other states with undercounts were Illinois and Texas.
States with population overcounts were Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Utah.
Uthmeier in his letter to Lutnick added that if population numbers couldn’t be updated, the 2022 survey should at least be used to update Florida’s federal funding allocations. Florida TaxWatch recently estimated the undercount will cost the state up to $21 billion in federal money by the end of the decade.
Last week, Trump directed Lutnick to “immediately begin work on a new and highly accurate” census that wouldn’t include undocumented immigrants.
DeSantis has backed the idea, contending Monday that Florida, with its population growth over the past five years, would pick up new congressional seats.
“Definitely we’d gain at least three,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Melbourne.
“If they did do it, and say, came up with something, within, like, the next six months, which I don't know how — that’s Commerce Department to do — and we gained a seat, that would require us to reapportion congressional (districts),” DeSantis said.
