redistricting

The Democratic National Committee announced it will send people and money to Missouri, to help a referendum effort aimed at blocking a new congressional map from going into effect.

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.

The Kansas Senate president has been at the forefront of efforts to redraw the boundaries of the state's congressional districts, following hot on the heels of Missouri. It would be Republican lawmaker's second attempt in the last three years to push out Rep. Sharice Davids, the state’s only Democratic representative.

Republican leaders in the Kansas Legislature want to follow the lead of states like Texas and Missouri by gerrymandering the state's congressional maps to favor Republicans. U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, a Democrat who represents the state's 3rd district, says the idea of splitting up Johnson County is "ludicrous."

Even as court cases seek to throw out the new redistricting plan approved in the special session, a referendum campaign to put it before voters is gaining momentum. At the same time, campaign committees are preparing to battle over the initiative process.

President Trump wants Kansas to shift its congressional boundaries to help elect another Republican from the state.

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."

In the bill text detailing Missouri's new congressional maps, one Kansas City precinct appears to be included in both the 4th and 5th districts. That would mean those voters would get to vote for two representatives in Congress. Gov. Mike Kehoe disputed that the voters have been allocated to two districts.

First Trump got Texas to redistrict to help Republicans win five House seats there. California Democrats are trying to counter that. And Missouri lawmakers moved to help the GOP win another seat, although lawsuits and voter petition drives could stop it.

State Sen. Lincoln Hough voted against efforts to end debate on gerrymandering and initiative petition bills — and was swiftly removed as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He was only one of two Republicans who opposed efforts to push through the measures.