Black lawmakers in Missouri stated on Thursday that they will oppose any move to alter the state’s congressional districts, citing the legal system as the arena in which they stand the best chance of winning.
Any attempt to redraw boundaries is a blatant attempt by Republicans to avoid congressional oversight of President Donald Trump, according to state representative Michael Johnson, a Democrat from Kansas City and the chair of the Legislative Black Caucus.
Johnson described this as a desperate diversion. By taking this action, the Missouri Republicans are obviously attempting to protect their national counterparts from the inevitable and imminent defeat that an electorate demanding accountability for a hostile administration will cause in 2026.
Republicans hold six of Missouri’s eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, while Democrats hold two. The 5th District in Jackson and Clay counties, which is now occupied by U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, is the seat that was targeted in an attempt to create a seventh district where the GOP was sure to win.
The likelihood that lawmakers would meet later this summer or early fall to redraw the maps has increased from distant to likely in less than two weeks. Although he did not provide a date for lawmakers to meet, Governor Mike Kehoe, who would make the call for lawmakers to meet, told reporters on Tuesday that he is generally in favor of the drive.
According to KYTV in Springfield, Kehoe stated, “We want to keep the House in Republican control, so what we look at, what we’re going to do here in Missouri, we’ll work with our leadership group and see if there’s a path or something that makes sense for Missourians.”
At a press conference at the state capitol, Johnson was joined by three other Black members of the Missouri House: state representatives Melissa Douglas of Kansas City, Marlon Anderson of St. Louis, and David Tyson Smith of Columbia.
They claimed that the Missouri Constitution forbids redistricting at this time.
A special session is likely to alter the congressional map, according to the leader of the Missouri Senate.
Following each census, lawmakers are required by the Missouri Constitution to update the maps. The ability to make revisions at other times is not granted nor denied by the text. According to Smith, the courts would declare any new map unlawful because of the silence and the way they have interpreted comparable gaps in certain competences.
Smith declared, “What’s happening right now is disgusting, outrageous, and shameful.”
Following the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that districts must be drawn as closely in population as practicable to maintain equal representation—known as the one person, one vote decision—the lines were last modified between censuses in the 1960s.
Republican leaders in the Missouri Senate had to employ unusual tactics to outsmart their caucus members who want to split the 5th District and push the political gap to 7-1 after the current lines were established in 2022. For many years, the 5th District has remained Democratic.
Texas is the state where the movement to redistrict district lines is most evident. With four districts up for grabs, including three that were previously held by Democrats, Republicans maintain a slim 219–212 advantage in the US House. By putting boundaries around Republican voters, the GOP hopes to increase its majority of seats, but governors of states controlled by Democrats are thinking of methods to thwart the move.
To deny Republicans a quorum to conduct business, all of Texas’ Democratic lawmakers departed the state. Texas Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn stated that the FBI is assisting in the search for the missing members at his request.
The absence of Missouri Democrats would not stop the GOP lawmakers from passing legislation because they only hold less than one-third of the seats in both chambers.
During a press conference on Tuesday, the lawmakers expressed their hope that Republicans would join them in opposing a revised plan. According to a number of Republican lawmakers who spoke to The Independent, they would probably support for the bill even though they now doubt the fairness of congressional redistricting.
Those Republicans were urged by Johnson to oppose the new map.
“Some Republicans in this building, some of our Republican colleagues, don’t want to see this happen,” Johnson stated.
By incorporating all the counties on the western border to the Arkansas line and then continuing the boundary east to Taney County, one of the maps that was hailed as 7-1 three years ago would have stretched from Kansas City to Branson.
Missouri is roughly 40% Democratic overall. Democrats now control two seats, or 25% of the delegation. According to Johnson, a fair map would provide Democrats three seats rather than one.
If lawmakers are asked to create a new map, Missourians will realize why, Smith said.
Smith stated, “We cannot allow that to happen. This is nothing more than a power grab and growth by the Trump administration to keep control of the (U.S.) House.”
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