On October 15, some Florida voters filed a lawsuit in state court against Governor Ron DeSantis, who has failed to set special election dates for three vacancies in the state legislature. Three Democratic state representatives resigned to run in the upcoming January 2022 election for Congress in the 20th district. Florida law forces incumbents who run for different positions to resign their old office, even before they know whether they will be elected to the new office.

Potential candidates for the three legislative seats have been waiting since the beginning of August for the Governor to set special election dates for the legislative elections. They are afraid that without judicial relief, the seats will be vacant all through the 2022 legislative session, which runs from January through March. The case is Staples v DeSantis, in the 2nd judicial circuit in Leon County.