Emanuel Cleaver II

The fourth lawsuit to be filed over the recent redistricting plan, this one argues that the Missouri Constitution does not allow lawmakers to revise congressional districts without new census data. It also argues that the districts are not legal because they stretch for hundreds of miles across the state.

The new map breaks the Kansas-City-based district of Democrat Emmanuel Cleaver into three in an effort to make it more Republican-leaning. It's already facing a torrent of legal challenges plus an initiative petition campaign to defeat it at the ballot.

At an event in Columbia, Gov. Mike Kehoe said he is confident he was on firm legal ground when he called lawmakers into a special session to redraw maps to benefit Republicans. But with three lawsuits pending, the governor said it was up to the courts to prove him right.

Redistricting opponents argue that the Missouri Constitution doesn't authorize mid-decade redistricting. But defenders of the gerrymandered map are banking on a construction similar to the 1990s movie "Air Bud."

The special session featured a number of unprecedented actions that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago, when President Trump demanded that Republican leaders redraw the state's congressional lines.

Missouri's new congressional map carves up Kansas City into three separate districts, fulfilling the wishes of President Donald Trump. The ACLU filed a lawsuit Friday, and Kansas City Council recently passed a resolution authorizing legal action of its own.

A group called People Not Politicians announced that it's gathering signatures to prevent Missouri's new congressional map from going into effect until there's a statewide vote. Voters will also have to approve of a Republican plan cracking down on citizen-led constitutional amendments.

Opponents say the plan dilutes the power of Black voters around Kansas City and vow to block it in court or with a referendum. The governor, who's expected to sign the plan, says it reflects the state's conservative values.

Missouri senators are expected to debate and then vote Friday on a Republican-drawn map that seeks to oust Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, as well as a plan to make it harder to pass citizen-led constitutional amendments. Cleaver gave an impassioned testimony against the effort Thursday.

On the same day that thousands of protesters filled the Missouri Capitol to protest gerrymandering, Republicans used a rare procedural maneuver to cut off debate over the rules of the special session.

Attendees at the National Baptist Convention in Kansas City criticized efforts by Missouri Republicans to carve up the 5th Congressional district, currently held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II. They said such a move silences Black and brown voices in the political process.

Protesters demanded that Republicans halt their efforts to redistrict Missouri and make it harder for voter-led constitutional amendments to pass. After protesting in the rotunda, rally-goers packed the Senate chambers, where lawmakers are set to take up both proposals.