Missouri Republicans on Tuesday advanced a proposed congressional map, part of a mid-decade redistricting push started by President Trump to hold onto – and possibly expand — the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the U.S. House.
The proposed maps aim to make Missouri’s congressional delegation seven Republicans and one Democrat, a change from its current delegation that is made up of six Republicans and two Democrats. The map breaks up the 5th Congressional District, currently held by Democratic Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, making it more conservative.
The measure passed Missouri’s state House 90-65, with several Republicans voting against it. It now heads to the state Senate, where Republicans hold a majority.
“I appreciate the leadership of President Trump as well. I appreciate all of those who’ve spoken out in favor, going back to 2022 and throughout the years, of a congressional map that will better represent Missouri in Washington, D.C.,” Missouri GOP state Rep. Dirk Deaton said while supporting the bill.
Missouri is the third state to consider redrawing its congressional maps. Texas Republicans passed their redistricting effort last month, shifting five Democratic districts toward Republicans. And California Democrats responded by passing their own redistricting plan that would make five GOP-held seats more favorable to Democrats, though the California plan still needs to be approved by voters later this year.
Cleaver’s Kansas City district has long been a target for Republicans, as their numbers have grown in Missouri so much that Democrats do not hold any statewide elected office. But state lawmakers left it in place during the 2021 redistricting and instead split Columbia, one of the state’s other Democratic strongholds, into two districts, according to University of Missouri professor Peverill Squire.
The maps are meant to squeeze out another seat for Republicans, but as Squire noted, “none of this comes without any cost.” Mid-decade redistricting is using data that are several years old at that point, and things could have changed along the margins where the districts are being redrawn, making it far from certain that the outcome will be what Republicans want. Further, the legislature is also debating a ballot measure in this special session, the outcome of which could be affected by sentiment over redistricting.
Additionally, the new map will likely be challenged in court, as have similar efforts in Texas and California.
“There’s a lot of risk for the Republicans, and the only thing at the moment that they stand to gain is maybe one more House seat,” Squire said.
Kehoe announced last month that he would be calling a special session to address redistricting, the latest state in a push started this summer in Texas. In mid-July, Mr. Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson asked Texas Republicans to take a look at their congressional map for redistricting. Mr. Trump said he felt that given his margin of victory in Texas, he is “entitled” to five more Republican seats. Texas currently has 25 Republicans and 13 Democrats in its delegation.
Congressional districts are normally settled once every 10 years, after the census shows population shifts. Some states, such as Missouri and Texas, only require the state legislature and the governor to change the districts, but others have more complicated paths for changes to the congressional map, such as independent commissions or requiring voters to give final approval.
How are Democrats responding?
In response to these redistricting efforts, the Democratic National Committee is mobilizing support for the state’s Democrats in an attempt to bring national attention to Missouri, the latest epicenter of Mr. Trump’s push for redrawing congressional districts.
The DNC is leading efforts to recruit Missourians to submit public comment during the hearing process and attend a Wednesday rally in front of the Missouri State Capitol building to denounce redistricting efforts. Ohio House Democratic leader Rep. Dani Issacsohn and state Rep. Desiree Tims will be in attendance, given that Mr. Trump has warned the redistricting battle may head to the Buckeye state next.
DNC Chair Ken Martin referred to this latest redistricting battle as an attempt to silence dissatisfied voters.
“Republicans know they’re in trouble,” Ken Martin told CBS News in a statement. “Donald Trump and his party have ripped health care away from working families and jacked up prices on everyday goods in a self-serving plot to make the ultra-wealthy even wealthier.”
What happened with Texas and California’s redistricting?
Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott called a 30-day special session to address redistricting and a number of other topics. Two weeks into the special session, Democrats left the state to deny Republicans a quorum — an option not available in Missouri, where only a simple majority is needed for a quorum. They ran out the clock on the special session, but they eventually returned after Abbott called another one, and the measure passed easily.
But they garnered enough national attention that California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that he would redraw his state’s congressional districts to garner up to five seats for Democrats, although California requires the new districts to be approved by voters. Newsom pushed a ballot measure through the Democratic-led Legislature, and it passed easily.
Both Texas and California’s maps are being challenged in court.