Cubanos Pa'lante Files Post-Trial Brief in Federal Racial Gerrymandering Lawsuit Against Florida House of Representatives

After two years of litigation and a full federal trial, the case is now before a three-judge court — with a ruling expected that could redraw South Florida's congressional and state house maps.

MIAMI, FL — Cubanos Pa'lante, a progressive Cuban American advocacy organization and plaintiff in a federal racial gerrymandering lawsuit against the Florida House of Representatives, announced today that plaintiffs filed their post-trial proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law on February 27, 2026. The filing marks the completion of the evidentiary phase of the case, with the matter now before a three-judge federal court panel for a final ruling.

The lawsuit, Cubanos Pa'lante v. Florida House of Representatives (Case No. 1:24-cv-21983), was filed in May 2024 alongside co-plaintiffs Engage Miami and the ACLU—For The Panthers Club at FIU, represented by the ACLU of Florida, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, and Vasquez Attorneys at Law. The suit alleges that the Florida Legislature racially gerrymandered four South Florida districts — Congressional District 26 and State House Districts 115, 118, and 119 — in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

The post-trial brief sets forth the factual record developed at trial and proposes legal conclusions for the court to adopt, including that race was the predominant factor in drawing each challenged district, that the Legislature lacked a legally sufficient basis for its use of race, and that each district fails constitutional strict scrutiny. Plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the four districts unconstitutional, permanently enjoin elections held under the current maps, and order remedial redistricting.

The challenged districts include Congressional District 26, which stretches across the state from Biscayne Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, connecting urban Hialeah and Wynwood with rural farmworker communities in Immokalee and the Naples suburbs — two distinct communities divided by the Everglades and lumped together solely because of race. State House Districts 115, 118, and 119 were drawn in long, narrow north-south configurations that split established Miami-Dade neighborhoods and lump communities with little in common into the same district. As the brief argues, the Legislature treated Hispanic voters as a monolith — but South Florida's Latino community is anything but.

A ruling could come at any time, though the court is not expected to issue a final decision until after the U.S. Supreme Court resolves a pending voting rights case from Louisiana. Governor DeSantis has already called a special session for late April to address congressional redistricting — a signal that political leaders on all sides are anticipating significant change.

What's at Stake

If the court rules in plaintiffs' favor, the four challenged districts would be redrawn to comply with constitutional requirements. The challenged districts span communities across South Florida, including Miami-Dade's Little Havana, Kendall, Westchester, Hialeah, and portions of Collier County. The case is believed to be the first federal racial gerrymandering challenge brought by a Cuban American advocacy organization.

Case Timeline