Federal court nixes challenge by Byron Donalds, GOP college groups to '20 Census
A three-judge federal court in Tampa Tuesday again dismissed a lawsuit originally filed by Florida College Republican groups and later joined by Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds challenging the statistical methods the Census Bureau used in the 2020 Census.
The Republicans alleged that a proper count would have given Florida an additional U.S. House seat and an additional vote in the Electoral College but for the “vast use” of a statistical method known as imputation. However, for the second time in six months, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed the case, this time with prejudice, finding that any further amendment to the pleadings “would be futile.”
That means the court won’t entertain additional arguments.
Litigation began in September, nearly five years after the 2020 Census was finalized. That’s when America First Legal (AFL), a conservative public interest organization co-founded by White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, filed a lawsuit alleging that the 2020 count was unconstitutional and violated federal law because it relied on unlawful statistical methods, distorted congressional representation, and diluted the votes of lawful citizens.
https://floridaphoenix.com/2026/07/08/federal-court-nixes-challenge-by-byron-donalds-gop-college-groups-to-20-census/