In a baffling move and a clear attack on Missourians ability to be properly represented in Congress, the state’s Republicans are planning to redraw, or gerrymander, the state’s congressional map just three years after the current maps were drawn–seven years early.
Missouri’s maps are already drawn to favor the Republican party, with Democrats holding only 25% of the seats despite winning 40% of the vote, but now the party is seeking to stack the deck even further in their favor. The new goal is to give Democrats just 12.5% of Missouri’s congressional representation, or one seat, by splitting Kansas City’s Democratic voters up as much as possible.
Currently, only two of Missouri’s Congressional Districts are held by Democrats: the 5th, which includes most of Kansas City and is held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, and the 1st, which includes most of St. Louis and is held by Rep. Wesley Bell. The other six are held by Republicans.
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe has already begun signalling his interest as Republicans across the state cheer him on. Some Republicans have reported the White House has reached out to them to discuss the topic. Gov. Kehoe told reporters that he intends to “to keep the House in Republican control.”
Missouri Democrats do not have the power to directly stop a redistricting effort due to their superminority status in the House. Many believe that if Republicans pursue this, it will end up in the courts almost immediately.
Kansas City residents and elected officials have already started rallying against the effort. The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus held a rally attended by many of Kansas City’s elected officials, of all races, to make the public aware of the issue.
“We need folks to know that this is completely, completely unacceptable,” said Kansas City’s Rep. Mark Sharp. “I’ve been there for six years now. I’ve seen legislation that overturned the will of the people. This is far worse.”
“We’re headed in a bad direction. We don’t have redistricting in the middle of the decade,” said Rep. Cleaver in a statement to St. Louis Public Radio, referencing the breaking of norms and inaccurate data this would be based on. “It is something that we do after the census. I mean, what do we base it on?”
Why are Missouri’s Republicans suddenly doing this? You can look east, where the state’s Republicans get their marching orders. President Trump has realized that he is going to likely lose control of the House of Representatives in the 2026 midterms and is determined to have as many maps redrawn as possible to make it harder for Democrats to win.
Do you think Republicans should get 87.5% of the representation when they win 60% of the vote? Would you feel the same way if it were flipped?
When polled on their opinion of gerrymandering this month by YouGov, only 9% of Americans said they think this style of gerrymandering should be legal and 94% of Americans say they think it is a problem “when states draw legislative districts that intentionally favor one party.”
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.
