Missouri Legislature Passes Gerrymandered Congressional Map
Missouri’s redistricting effort has proven successful, as the Missouri state Senate passed a new gerrymandered congressional map on Friday.
According to CBS News, Missouri’s current congressional map has six seats in Republican districts and two in Democratic districts. The new map passed by the Missouri state legislature splits up the Kansas City district currently represented by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver into more conservative districts, potentially giving Republicans an extra seat. The Missouri state House already approved the map last Tuesday, with the map now sitting on the desk of Gov. Mike Kehoe, who said he intends to sign it into law.
President Donald Trump celebrated the map’s passage in a post on Truth Social. “A new, much fairer, and much improved, Congressional Map, has now overwhelmingly passed both Chambers of the Missouri Legislature,” the president wrote. President Trump added the new map “will, hopefully, give us an additional Seat in Congress” and “will help send an additional MAGA Republican to Congress.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement critical of Missouri’s redistricting effort. “Bowing to the demands of Donald Trump, corrupt Missouri Republicans advanced their mid-decade gerrymandering scheme today to try and rig the midterm elections in order to salvage the weak GOP House majority,” his statement read.
The nationwide redistricting battle began in July when President Trump requested Texas Gov. Greg Abbott trigger a rare, mid-decade redistricting effort. Redistricting usually occurs once per decade in response to updated Census data. Republicans hold a narrow majority in the House, with Democrats only needing a net gain of three seats to flip control.
Gov. Abbott capitulated to Trump’s request, using the devastating Kerr County floods as cover to call a special legislative session that was focused on drawing a new congressional map instead of providing flood relief for the affected. Texas Democrats put up a fight through filibusters and even leaving the state to deny state Republicans the quorum necessary to vote on the map. The first special session ended without a vote, though Gov. Abbott quickly announced another special session.
When Texas Democrats eventually returned to the state, Rep. Nicole Collier was held as a political prisoner in the state House for refusing to agree to police surveillance. Texas Republicans eventually passed a new congressional map that adds five seats in districts Trump won in the 2024 election.
As a response to the Texas redistricting effort, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the “Election Rigging Response Act.” A special election will be held on Nov. 4, where voters will determine whether control of California’s congressional maps stays with an independent redistricting committee or if control will temporarily be given to the state legislature until the next Census in 2030.
In response to Newsom’s response, Trump began campaigning for Missouri, Indiana, and Florida to begin redistricting efforts of their own. And that, my friends, is how we got to Gov. Kehoe launching a redistricting effort to maybe, hopefully, gain one extra seat in the House.
Included in Missouri’s redistricting effort is a new law making voter-supported ballot initiatives, like the one that enshrined abortion in the state constitution in the 2024 election, much harder to gain traction. While the Missouri redistricting effort will likely yield short-term success for state Republicans, it may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back regarding voter sentiment. Missouri voters were overwhelmingly against this redistricting effort, but Missouri state legislators have long disregarded the will of the people.
After Missouri citizens voted to enshrine abortion in the state constitution, Missouri Republicans filed several lawsuits to reinstate the ban and have filed legislation to put another abortion ban on the ballot. Missouri voters also voted in favor of expanding sick leave benefits for workers. The Missouri legislature introduced a bill reversing that expansion, which Gov. Kehoe signed, resulting in everyone who gained paid sick leave through the expansion losing their benefits last month. As a result of Missouri Republicans consistently undermining the will of its voters, a coalition was formed to make it harder for the state legislature to undermine the will of the voters.
Shortly after the state Senate approved the map, a coalition of Kansas City voters filed a legal challenge against Missouri’s redistricting effort. The voters, represented by the ACLU of Missouri and the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), argued that the Missouri Constitution limits redistricting efforts to one per decade in line with updated Census data.
“Kansas City has been home for me my entire adult life. Voting is an important tool in our toolbox, so that we have the freedom to make our voices heard through a member of Congress who understands Kansas City’s history of racial and economic segregation along the Troost divide, and represents our needs,” plaintiff and Missouri Workers Center leader Terrence Wise said in CLC’s statement. “If our communities are needlessly split by these new lines, we would no longer see our strong values reflected in the priorities of our congressional representative.”
SEE ALSO:
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe Sets Special Session For Redistricting
Missouri House Republicans Gerrymander Congressional Map
Missouri Legislature Passes Gerrymandered Congressional Map was originally published on newsone.com
