LAKWORTH, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis is throwing his support behind efforts to update the results of the 2020 US Census.
DeSantis appeared alongside Attorney General James Usmier on Wednesday. He was a leading advocate for revisiting census numbers and securing what he called “appropriate reallocations” for Floridians.
“Even the Biden administration has admitted that Florida was shortened with a re-pregnancy caused by the last census,” DeSantis said. “My office is working with Attorney General Usmeyer on our mission to secure legislative representation for Florida people in Congress and to correct mistakes identified in the aftermath of the 2020 census.”
Uthmeier was even more direct, denounced political interference in the state’s underestimation. “Florida was taken away by the Left’s multi-year efforts to equip the 2020 census. The Floridians didn’t get the right representation in Congress for them,” he said. “President Trump has called for a new census. I’m ready to work with Governor DeSantis to bring the solution to the president and get it done.”
The push follows the findings from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Post-Interpretation Survey, which showed Florida was one of the most underrated states in the 2020 census. Research shows that Florida’s population was underestimated by nearly 3.5%. Since 2019, the state has added around 2 million new residents. This was not acquired in the original 2020 figures.
State officials argue that the combination of infiltration and explosive population growth means Florida is “very undervalued” in the U.S. House of Representatives, and that they can add seats to state delegations by revising the census.
Would you like to make this article a simpler news style (neutral, like the AP) or keep some of the political tone from Desantis and Uthmeier’s remarks?
