U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel is running for reelection in a newly configured Palm Beach County congressional district.

“It’s a challenging time for our democracy. Florida’s governor has redrawn congressional maps to curry favor with Donald Trump, and the U.S. Supreme Court has gutted hard-fought voting and civil rights,” Frankel said in a statement. “I strongly oppose this new Florida map, which silences voters and undermines their rights, and I support efforts in the courts to challenge it.”

But she added, if the courts allow the map to go into effect, she’ll run for reelection in the newly configured 23rd Congressional District, which includes most of the constituents she already represents.

Frankel is in an unusual situation. She is one of the few Democrats whose election effort was aided by a Republican redistricting plan aimed at increasing the number of Republican members of Congress and reducing the number of Democrats.

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ mapmaker — who testified before state legislators that he used partisan considerations as a factor in his cartography — drew Frankel a more Democratic district than the one she has been representing. By cramming even more Democrats into Frankel’s district it takes them out of adjacent congressional districts, making them more likely to elect Republicans.

The new district, anchored by Frankel’s longtime home city of West Palm Beach, voted for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris over Trump 56.2% to 42.5%, according to numbers reported by Democratic data analyst Matthew Isbell.

The current district, also based in West Palm Beach, voted 52.1% to 46.6%.

The boundary changes transformed the district from a Harris plus 5.5 point district to a Harris plus 13.7 point district.

Sabato’s Crystal Ball from the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia updated its House ratings this week, after DeSantis signed the new districts into law on Monday. It rates the new 23rd District as “safe Democratic.”

The new District takes in parts of Delray Beach at the southern end and runs north to Mangonia Park and Riviera Beach. Most of the western boundary is Florida’s Turnpike or State Road 7/U.S. 441. The eastern boundary is the Atlantic Ocean.

Both the new and old district includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and club in Palm Beach. (He’s been represented by Democrat Frankel during both terms of his presidency.)

Though the new district is more Democratic, Frankel isn’t guaranteed reelection. She faces a primary challenge from activist Victoria Doyle, who filed paperwork a year ago to challenge Frankel in the previous district. A campaign spokesperson said Doyle would run in the new district.

“My campaign continues. I am still fighting for change, to get money out of politics, to create an economy that works for everyone, and to provide guaranteed healthcare for all. Regardless of the outcome of litigation, our grassroots campaign will pivot, and I will be on the ballot in August,” Doyle said in a statement.

The primary is Aug. 18.

The redistricting plan was crafted by DeSantis and ratified by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature after Trump told Republican states he wanted them to redraw congressional districts to help his party in this year’s midterm congressional elections.

Florida’s current congressional districts include 20 Republican and eight Democratic seats, which experts already considered gerrymandered in favor of the Republicans.

The new districts include 24 that lean Republican and four that lean Democratic.

To get to the new numbers, the DeSantis map made significant changes in Palm Beach and Broward counties.

Four members of Congress currently represent parts of Palm Beach County, which has three Democratic and one Republican district.

Under the new map, the county has one Democratic and three Republican districts.

Like Frankel and other Democrats, Doyle decried the unusual mid-decade redistricting.

“Governor DeSantis bowed to President Trump’s demand to create more Republican congressional seats, and the result is an illegal map that eliminates four seats represented by Democrats, and skews the state’s delegation even more to the right,” Doyle said.

The one Palm Beach County district currently represented by a Republican saw few changes. Just 34 minutes after the Legislature voted final approval of the maps, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast formally announced he would run for reelection in the district that includes northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties.

Frankel, 77, a lawyer, was first elected to Congress in 2012 and is currently a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee. She earlier served as mayor of West Palm Beach.

A former minority leader of the Florida House of Representatives, Frankel was catapulted to prominence as the voice of her party during the George W. Bush vs. Al Gore drama in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election.

Frankel had $1.5 million cash in her campaign account as of March 31, according to her April report filed with the Federal Election Commission. She raised $398,000 and spent $125,000 in the first quarter of 2026.

Doyle, 61, is also a lawyer. She bought a house in Palm Beach County in 2015 and moved permanently to Lake Worth Beach in 2021, according to her campaign-issued biography. She stopped practicing law in April 2025, the campaign said, “to run for office after years of activism, protesting, and frustration with Congress.”

Doyle had $4,497 in her campaign account as of March 31, her FEC report shows. She raised $35,000 and spent $90,000 in the first quarter. She also has $129,000 in debt, representing her own money that she’s lent to her campaign.

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