redistricting

Thousands of volunteers in Missouri are trying to get enough signatures to force a statewide vote on a congressional map, which state lawmakers recently gerrymandered to favor Republicans. But state officials aren't making it easy for them. Plus: U.S. farmers are experimenting with short corn. It's corn, but shorter!

A Missouri group is working to overturn the map that gives the state one more Republican seat in Congress. If they get enough signatures, the map cannot take effect unless Missourians approve them.

Volunteers at protests across the state focused on collecting signatures for a 2026 ballot measure that would overturn Missouri's recent redistricting plan. The new map was drawn by Republican lawmakers to weaken Democratic voting power around Kansas City.

Catherine Hanaway recently returned to public office after nearly 20 years. As Missouri's attorney general, she’ll be handling major litigation involving abortion and congressional redistricting.

Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is arguing that the referendum is usurping the legislature's power to redraw congressional districts. But lawyers with the anti-redistricting group say Hanaway is "absolutely wrong" about the constitution.

Opponents fear that Kansas Republican lawmakers will break Johnson County into multiple Congressional districts in order to push out Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids. GOP leaders were at the White House this week after approving funding for a special session.

Gov. Mike Kehoe has repeatedly said the plan was drafted in his office. A filing by the attorney general's office says only that "various governmental actors" worked on the plan to give a seat to the GOP.

Missouri Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins said any signatures gathered before Wednesday to place a new congressional map up for a vote won't count. Proponents of the redistricting referendum say that's an unlawful attempt to shorten the signature gathering window.

A Supreme Court case over Louisiana's congressional map could determine the future of Voting Rights Act protections against racial discrimination and allow Republicans to draw 19 more House seats — including in Missouri.

Troost Avenue was a racial dividing line for decades. Now, Missouri’s recent redistricting efforts are using the street to split Kansas City into separate congressional districts. Plus: The Trump administration is promising billions in bailout money for farmers affected by tariffs and facing a tough economy this year.

The state's new congressional map uses Troost Avenue as a dividing line, and groups majority Black neighborhoods in east Kansas City with rural communities in the middle of the state. Community leaders worry the new divide will mean the needs of underserved urban neighborhoods go ignored.

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.