Florida Democrat Rep. Angie Nixon arrested in sit-in protest at DeSantis’ office over redistricting map
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida state Rep. Angie Nixon was arrested Friday after staging a sit-in at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office to protest a newly approved congressional redistricting map that could add up to four Republican seats ahead of the 2026 elections.
The protest followed Nixon’s recent reprimand by a House ethics panel for disrupting the map’s passage with a bullhorn on the House floor. DeSantis’ chief of staff Jason Weida
confirmed the arrest on X.
Nixon joined dozens of demonstrators earlier in the day at the governor’s office in the state Capitol, protesting the mid-decade redistricting effort that Republicans pushed through a special legislative session. The map, signed into law by DeSantis, redraws Florida’s 28 congressional districts in ways that could shift several competitive or Democratic-leaning seats toward the GOP. Republicans currently hold 20 of those seats.
As law enforcement arrived and warned the group that arrests could follow if they did not disperse, most protesters left the area. Nixon and a small number of others remained, leading to her arrest in the evening.
Nixon, who is also seeking the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, used a pink bullhorn on the House floor to denounce the map, an action that drew a rare
formal reprimand from the House Rules and Ethics Committee, the first in 20 years.
DeSantis has defended the redistricting as a necessary adjustment following court rulings and changes in voting patterns, arguing it better reflects Florida’s electorate.
The incident highlights the disruptive tactics of some Democrats in the Republican-controlled state as lawmakers work to update congressional maps to better reflect Florida’s shifting population and voting patterns.
