Missouri Governor Sets Special Session For Redistricting

LISTEN LIVE. LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER.

Go Vote Missouri — Source: pepifoto / Getty

A nationwide redistricting battle has been underway ever since Texas Gov. Greg Abbott capitulated to President Donald Trump’s request for a rare, mid-decade redistricting in July. Missouri governor Mike Kehoe announced on Friday that Missouri’s redistricting effort will get underway this week after calling a special legislative session.

According to CBS News, Missouri’s special session is scheduled to begin on Sept. 3. Gov. Kehoe made the announcement only hours after Gov. Abbott signed the bill approving Texas’ new electoral map that adds five new seats in districts Trump won by double digits in the 2024 election. Missouri’s redistricting effort seeks to oust Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver from his chair by expanding his district eastward into a more Republican-leaning area. “This attempt to gerrymander Missouri will not simply change district lines; it will silence voices. It will deny representation,” Cleaver said in a statement.

“Missouri’s conservative, common-sense values should be truly represented at all levels of government,” Gov. Kehoe said in a statement regarding the proposed new map. President Trump praised the move in a Truth Social post, saying it “will give the incredible people of Missouri the tremendous opportunity to elect an additional MAGA Republican in the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

Missouri’s redistricting effort comes as President Trump desperately tries to hold on to the GOP’s narrow majority in the House ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democrats only need a net gain of three seats to flip control in the House next year.

State Democrats have been vocal in their criticism of Missouri’s redistricting effort. Missouri State House Minority Leader Ashley Aune called Kehoe a “Trump puppet” who’s attempting to “steal a congressional seat for Republicans.” Aune added that Missouri’s redistricting effort “marks the worst threat to the integrity of our state government since pro-slavery lawmakers voted for Missouri to join the Confederacy in 1861.”

Missouri is currently represented in the U.S. House by six Republicans and two Democrats. Kehoe’s proposed map would give Missouri Republicans a 7-1 advantage. While Texas Democrats filibustered and even fled the state to break quorum during Texas’ redistricting effort, Missouri Democrats have little recourse to block Missouri Republicans.

Missouri is one of several states that have initiated mid-decade redistricting efforts for partisan advantage. Indiana and Florida are currently considering redrawing their electoral maps ahead of the midterms. Several Democrat-led states have also proposed redrawing their electoral maps in response to the Republican redistricting efforts. Most notably, California Gov. Gavin Newsom launched the Election Rigging Response Act in August, which set a special election for Nov. 4. An independent redistricting committee currently controls California’s electoral maps. The special election will determine whether the state legislature will temporarily control the maps for the next five years until the next census, at which point control will revert to the committee. Should voters approve the measure, Gov. Newsom’s proposed map will neutralize the gains of the Texas redistricting effort.

Missouri’s redistricting effort isn’t the only issue on the docket for the special session. Missouri Republicans have long been against the will of the people when it goes against their ideological interests. Missouri is one of the only states where voters struck down an outright abortion ban through a ballot initiative enshrining abortion as a right in the state constitution.

This hasn’t stopped Missouri Republicans from launching several legal challenges, making it still incredibly difficult to obtain an abortion in the state. The special session will also introduce legislation to make it harder for similar initiatives to gain traction going forward.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Bill Launching Redistricting Effort

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe Sets Special Session For Redistricting was originally published on newsone.com