Justices, in a 5-1 decision, said an alternative requested by voting-rights groups for a North Florida district would violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause because it would involve racial gerrymandering.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld on Thursday the state’s congressional map championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, which reconfigured a district in North Florida, erasing Black representation in that area of the state,

The case centered on Congressional District 5, which in the past stretched from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee, and elected Black Democrat Al Lawson. During the 2022 redistricting process, DeSantis argued that keeping such a district would be an unconstitutional racial gerrymander and successfully pressured lawmakers to overhaul the district.

Florida's Supreme Court has upheld the state's current congressional redistricting map, rejecting a challenge over the elimination of a majority-Black district that was pushed by Republican Gov.