As Gov. Ron DeSantis presumably prepared a new congressional map, his critics are bracing to sue over it.

Ellen Freidin, CEO of Fair Districts Now, said any new map considered to draw congressional districts right now would clearly violate the Fair Districts constitutional amendment passed by Florida voters in 2010. She still wonders whether a map will be produced ahead of a Special Session this week, and can’t imagine a legal justification for it right now.

“As far as I’m concerned, no map that would pass that would be legally appropriate,” she said. “There is no reason to pass a new map. We have a map that was approved by more than one court after it was passed in 2022.”

But nationwide, politicians expect DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature to approve new cartography, which may be a final volley in the redistricting wars waged in red and blue states over the past year. Lawmakers have made clear they expect the Governor to take the lead on the process.

Regardless, Democratic consultants predict that if a map gets passed and signed by DeSantis, lawsuits will be filed immediately.

“I am expecting a challenge, and there better be,” said Matt Isbell, a Democratic data consultant. “If there isn’t a challenge filed the second he signs a map, I am going to be furious, because there is nothing they can propose that is not just outright partisan gerrymandering.”