Rep. Darren Soto survives Republican-drawn map in Florida

Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 10, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

WASHINGTON — Florida Rep. Darren Soto, the most vulnerable House Democrat running for reelection, narrowly won a sixth term Tuesday in a district that state Republicans redrew in their favor.

Soto was leading Republican Navy veteran Dan Green by less than a point when The Associated Press called the race for Central Florida’s 9th District a week after Election Day. His margin of victory was above the 0.5% threshold that would trigger a recount under state law.

House Democrats have so far flipped more than 40 seats and appear on track to hold their biggest majority in the chamber in decades. Soto’s win means that no House Democratic incumbent lost to a Republican in the general election this year. And Florida Democrats defended all four seats the GOP had hoped to pick up under the state’s new Republican-drawn map.

Democratic Reps. Kathy Castor and Jared Moskowitz both won reelection from districts that shifted red, while Democrat Pia Dandiya, a former high school principal, defeated Republican Marine Corps veteran Casey Askar for a redrawn open seat in South Florida.

Soto, who declared victory last week, had been seen as the most vulnerable of the targeted Florida Democrats. The new map reduced the Hispanic population of his district as the seat shifted from one that Kamala Harris would have carried in 2024 to one that Donald Trump would have taken by 18 points.

“Despite the Florida Republican legislature’s efforts to redraw me out of this district, my record of delivering for Florida showed voters that I am a reliable fighter for them in Congress,” Soto said in a Nov. 4 statement.

In a Tuesday memo detailing how House Democrats secured their historic majority, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee took aim at Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying their “attempts to steal seats … supremely backfired.”

While Florida Republicans were unsuccessful in flipping the four Democrat-held seats, the party has so far held all of its House seats in the Sunshine State. One South Florida contest remains uncalled. The race between GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar and Democratic challenger Eliott Rodriguez in the Miami-area 27th District had advanced to a recount, with Salazar ahead by less than half a percentage point.

_____