JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri’s Republican-led House on Tuesday approved a mid-decade plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts that supporters say will better represent the state in Washington and opponents say is an effort to entrench GOP control.
The rare redistricting measure, backed by President Donald Trump and now headed to the Republican-controlled state Senate, would reshape a Democratic-held Kansas City district and could allow Republicans to win seven of the state’s eight U.S. House seats. The plan passed the House on a 90-65 vote, with 13 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.
Republicans, who already hold six of Missouri’s eight congressional seats, say the revised map would create districts that are more compact and that better amplify conservative voices in Congress. "It's a congressional map that will better represent Missouri in Washington, D.C.," said state Rep. Dirk Deaton, the bill’s sponsor.
Democrats and civil rights groups described the effort as partisan gerrymandering aimed at diluting minority votes and eliminating a Democratic foothold in Kansas City. The plan would stretch the district held by Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver eastward into heavily Republican rural areas, reducing the share of Black and minority voters in the district while reallocating other parts of Kansas City to Republican-leaning districts.
"This is cheating," state Rep. Yolonda Fountain Henderson said on the House floor. Cleaver, who previously served as Kansas City's first Black mayor and has represented the district since 2005, said Republicans were creating an atmosphere of "intimidation" and "division" and pledged to challenge the map in court.
Missouri’s redistricting push is occurring amid broader national fights over congressional maps. Republican-led Texas adopted a similar mid-decade redraw, while Democratic-led California has pushed countermeasures that still require voter approval. Other states, including Indiana, Florida, Maryland and New York, have signaled potential changes, making redistricting a major factor in next year’s U.S. House elections, where Democrats need a net gain of three seats to win control.
The House action came during a two-part special session called by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe. Lawmakers also passed a measure that, if approved by the Senate and later by voters, would make it harder to pass citizen-initiated constitutional amendments by requiring a majority vote in each congressional district rather than a simple statewide majority. That proposal follows recent ballot-driven changes in Missouri on abortion rights, marijuana legalization and Medicaid expansion.
Opponents staged high-profile protests as the session got under way. Three Democratic state lawmakers staged a multi-day sit-in in the House chamber, drawing support from national Democrats; former Vice President Kamala Harris arranged for food deliveries to the lawmakers who remained in the chamber. The Missouri NAACP has filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the special session, arguing the state constitution does not permit redistricting without new census data or a court order and that there was no extraordinary circumstance to warrant the session.
Missouri’s new attorney general, Catherine Hanaway, said she does not believe the state constitution bars mid-decade redistricting. State House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City, called the plan "hyperpartisan gerrymandering" and said it was being done along racial lines. "Under these new maps, they are erasing Emanuel Cleaver from Congress essentially," Aune said.
Republican state Rep. Bryant Wolfin, one of the GOP lawmakers who opposed the measure, said on the floor that using raw political power to tilt the playing field was wrong. Several Democrats said they expect a voter-initiated petition drive to try to force a referendum that could delay or overturn the revisions if the Senate approves them.
If the Senate passes the redistricting plan and it becomes law, it will reshape Missouri’s congressional landscape ahead of next year’s elections and likely prompt legal challenges that could determine whether the new districts take effect. Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth contributed reporting from Kansas City, Missouri.