redistricting

Cole County Judge Brian Stumpe removed some of Secretary of State Denny Hoskins' phrases describing the old and new redistricting plans — calling them argumentative and "likely to create prejudice."

Missouri's secretary of state is only checking about 200,000 of the 300,000 signatures that were submitted to force a statewide vote on the gerrymandered congressional map. Referendum organizers are less than 200 signatures short of qualifying for the ballot, but want all signatures reviewed.

The Republican-drawn congressional map divides Kansas City into three districts, and lumps the urban core with rural communities 200 miles away. While the map was upheld by a Jackson County judge, multiple other lawsuits against Missouri's mid-decade redistricting have yet to be decided.

If the court strikes down the new map, Missouri's congressional lines would revert to the prior map — which keeps the bulk of Kansas City within one district.

A push from Missouri's Republican attorney general to alter the census may lead to a radical shift in redistricting for state legislatures — drawing districts that don't take into account children and non-U.S. citizen adults.

People Not Politicians filed open-records requests to review the collected signatures and says the minimum number required for a statewide referendum should be validated by the Missouri secretary of state.

Missouri state Sen. Rick Brattin, of Harrisonville, is running for the 5th congressional district even though he does not currently live there. The Kansas City-area race is attracting a big list of Republican hopefuls because it was redrawn to include rural areas hundreds of miles away.

A bad national environment for Republicans could affect this year's election cycle, which will feature critical ballot measures like a proposal to repeal abortion rights, restricting citizen-led initiative petitions, and deciding the fate of the gerrymandered congressional map.

Although Secretary of State Denny Hoskins says the Republican-favoring map from 2025 is now in effect, a court case could require congressional candidates to run instead within the lines drawn back in 2022. For Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, that could either mean an easy reelection bid or the hardest campaign of his life.

Missouri Republicans, acting at the urging of President Trump, redrew Cleaver's Kansas City-area district to make it harder for a Democrat to win. Despite uncertainties about which map will be upheld, Cleaver has filed to run for reelection.

Davids has represented Kansas’ 3rd District in Congress, which includes all of Johnson County and part of Wyandotte County, since 2019. But with Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall up for reelection this year, she’s openly considering a run.

Primary voters in a small number of districts play an outsized role in deciding who wins Congress. The Trump-initiated mid-decade redistricting wave, which led to a new Republican-drawn map in Missouri, is driving that number of competitive seats even lower.