Missourians deserve the chance to vote on Republicans’ rigged maps
Today, a day after Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe signed gerrymandered congressional maps into law, the DNC announced a new investment to help Missourians on the ground obtain the required signatures necessary to activate a citizens’ referendum that will put the congressional maps directly in the hands of Missouri voters.
In Missouri, it takes 117,000 signatures for a citizen referendum. If the required signatures are collected, the new, Republican-gerrymandered map will not go into effect unless there is a statewide vote to approve them.
At the behest of Donald Trump, Missouri Republicans rigged their congressional maps to avoid accountability for Trump’s Big Ugly Bill, which kicks hundreds of thousands of Missourians off of health care. They did this by drawing out Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, the former Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
With this investment, the DNC is supporting Missouri Democrats’ work to collect the required signatures for a citizen referendum, which would force a statewide vote on fair maps, stopping Republicans’ unilateral power grab.
The DNC’s investment will support the Missouri Democratic Party’s on-the-ground efforts to collect the necessary signatures, including by:
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Hiring organizing staff to run signature-collection efforts statewide.
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Supporting volunteer organizing efforts to collect signatures across the state.
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Deploying our volunteer organizing team of 41,000 volunteers across the country to send texts to Missourians to sign the petition.
DNC Chair Ken Martin issued the following statement:
“After passing Trump’s Big Ugly Bill that kicks 230,000 Missourians off their health insurance and puts four rural hospitals at risk of closing, Missouri Republicans are scared they will lose in 2026 and beyond. That’s why they are trying to cheat. The DNC won’t stand idly by as Republicans try to take the power away from the people — that’s why we’re partnering with Democrats on the ground to ensure Missourians choose their maps, not Trump or his Republican enablers.”
Tristin Amezcua-Hogan is the Editor of The Labor Beacon and a member of LIUNA Local 264. Tristin also serves as the Director of Communications for the Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO and the Chair of the Kansas City Regional Transit Alliance.
Tristin grew up as the son of a UA Local 669 member in Tecumseh, KS and the great-nephew of George C. Amis, longtime leader of the United Rubberworkers (now USW Local 307) in Kansas. Growing up in rural Kansas as the child of teen parents, Tristin quickly came to appreciate the life-changing benefit of a union job.
Tristin and his partner, Rebeca Amezcua-Hogan, are residents of the Westside, Kansas City, MO's historic Mexican neighborhood. They are proud members of Kansas City's New Reform Temple.
