Missouri’s new congressional district map will be back before the State Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The high court will hear three lawsuits, two of which center on arguments that the Missouri First map violates the requirement that congressional boundaries be “compact” because it would split up Kansas City among three congressional districts.
Marina Jenkins is Executive Director the National Redistricting Foundation, an affiliate of the non-profit National Democratic Redistricting Committee.
“District 5 has been manipulated from a compact urban district into one that snakes across 15 counties, combining downtown Kansas City with sparsely populated rural areas hundreds of miles away,” she told reporters during a conference call on Monday. “This new 7-1 map, the 2025 plan, splits Kansas City into three congressional districts and is very similar to the extreme gerrymander that Missouri lawmakers themselves rejected just a few years ago.”
The new map divides the current district between U.S. Rep. Emanuel Clever, D-Mo. 5th Dist., and seats currently held by U.S. Representatives Mark Alford, R-Mo. 4th Dist., and Sam Graves, R-Mo. 6th Dist.
A Jackson County judge upheld the Missouri First map in a lower court ruling, and just two months ago, the Missouri Supreme Court rejected another challenge to the map, ruling that the legislature did have the authority to redraw congressional boundaries at anytime — not just once every ten years following the U.S. Census.
State Sen. Brad Hudson, R-Cape Fair, defended the new map after the March ruling, saying it “accurately reflects the will of Missourians, and it will help make sure that we are accurately represented in D.C.”
But Jenkins pushed back on that ruling, telling reporters that the map is still unconstitutional.
“It’s important to remember at this point in time, redistricting is a 50-state patchwork,” she said. “But where there are gerrymanders that violate state laws, those state laws ought to be enforced.”
After signing the disputed map into law last September, Gov. Mike Kehoe, R-Missouri, issued the following statement:
“Missourians are more alike than we are different, and our values, across both sides of the aisle, are closer to each other than those of the congressional representation of states like New York, California, and Illinois. We believe this map best represents Missourians, and I appreciate the support and efforts of state legislators, our congressional delegation, and President Trump in getting this map to my desk.”
The third case the State Supreme Court will hear Tuesday seeks to suspend the new map until it’s approved by Missouri voters.
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