politics

The Kansas City Chiefs' planned move across the state line marked an unusually bipartisan success for Kansas elected leaders. In most other ways, state politics in 2025 were marked by Republican wins and Democratic frustrations.

The year 2025 marked the start of a new governor's term in Missouri, and the deepening of Republican control of the General Assembly. As the year ended, the blame and sorrow over the state losing the Kansas City Chiefs were just beginning.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is about to begin her final year in office. She joined KCUR's Up To Date to talk about her policy priorities heading into the 2026 legislative session in Topeka, as well as the prospects for Democrats in next year's midterm elections.

In Missouri and Kansas, the secretary of state is the top election official, a partisan position chosen by voters. But to the frustration of some, Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins has used his authority to push certain Republican priorities, especially when it comes to ballot issues on redistricting and abortion.

This week, petitioners challenging Missouri's gerrymandered new congressional map submitted 305,000 signatures seeking to halt the law and put it up for a statewide vote. That's more than twice as many as needed. But a whole tangle of legal challenges lay ahead.

People Not Politicians, the citizen-led campaign seeking to overturn Missouri’s newly passed congressional map, must submit signatures to the Secretary of State this week. If accepted, the gerrymandered map will be blocked from taking effect before the 2026 election.

A survey from the National Academy of Sciences suggests most Americans now believe in at least one conspiracy theory. A Missouri researcher says the key to bringing those believers back into mainstream society is leading with empathy.

Republican former New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu will be in Kansas City next Monday for an American Public Square event. He joined Up To Date ahead of his visit to discuss his time in office, working across the aisle and the first year of the second Trump administration.

The U.S. House will vote Wednesday to reopen the government. U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, who represents Kansas City, opposes the plan because it fails to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies that would make insurance more affordable for residents.

KCUR, Generation Listen and the Kansas City Public Library recently convened a community forum to explore the complex issue of redistricting in Missouri and Kansas. Up to Date host Steve Kraske moderated a panel and took questions from the audience, as experts and reporters addressed the practicality, constitutionality and legality of the plans.

Voters around the Kansas City area went to the polls Tuesday to vote on issues critical to their local communities. The metro area saw city council upsets, a win for the four-day school week, and a history-making new mayor, among other results.

Kansas City ended free bus fares and saw a grocery store shutter. Both issues showed up in the New York City mayoral race, where conservative outlets used the city's policies to attack leading candidate Zohran Mamdani.