Missouri Republicans have taken another step toward redrawing the state's eight congressional districts, a move that's part of a national push from President Donald Trump ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
A House special committee on redistricting backed a plan 10-4 along party lines Thursday that would convert Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver's Kansas City-based district into a GOP-leaning seat. It would place large portions of Kansas City in the districts held by Reps. Mark Alford and Sam Graves and also make substantial changes to the districts of Reps. Bob Onder and Ann Wagner in the St. Louis area.
The move, which is aimed at ousting Cleaver, came after fiery testimony from Democrats, who said it showcases how easily their Republican colleagues capitulate to Trump's demands.
"I need to say this plainly: This committee hearing is not about fairness," said Rep. Mark Sharp, D-Kansas City. "It's about carving up communities and silencing voters. In my six years here, I've seen a lot of changes. But I hardly recognize this body anymore."
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-McDonald County, said the new map is an improvement from the one passed in 2022 – including how it places all of St. Charles County in Onder's district and in turn makes his district more compact. He also pointed out that it no longer splits Clay County, which will now be in Graves' 6th District.
"I'm confident that this map that is proposed meets every constitutional and legal requirement for redistricting," Deaton said.
Trump has called on Republican states like Missouri, Texas, Indiana and Florida to redraw their congressional districts ahead of next year's midterm elections. The president's party often does poorly in midterms, and Republicans hold one of the smallest majorities in recent memory.
Voters in California will soon decide on a new map that could elect more Democrats – and Illinois and Maryland may also consider redrawing their districts.
The decision to advance Deaton's bill is a reversal from 2022, when many Republicans in the House and Senate rejected a map that targeted Cleaver. Some GOP lawmakers said that such a plan could backfire and make Alford and Graves' districts more competitive. And even Republicans who back the plan now concede that the new version of Cleaver's district, which connects Kansas City to a number of rural counties, could be winnable for Democrats in a bad election year for the GOP.
State Rep. Bill Hardwick of Pulaski County said the map reflects the sentiments of his district, which strongly backs the president.
"I think if I say that I want Republicans to take control of Congress, I think if I say my voters want Republicans to have control of Congress, and I draw a map that's favorable to Republicans, I think it's OK," Hardwick said. "I think that partisan gerrymandering is not a threat to the republic. I think it's what's been happening since the republic was founded. I don't necessarily like that. It's not ideal. I just think that it's hyperbolic to say that partisan gerrymandering is, like, the end of America."
Kansas City Democrats rebuke map
Democrats on the committee, particularly those from Kansas City, blasted Deaton for producing a map that's more Republican than the state as a whole.
Rep. Kathy Steinhoff, D-Columbia, also questioned whether the new map comported with the Missouri Constitution's requirements for the districts to be as equal in population as possible. That's because Deaton told the committee that data from the 2020 census was used to draw the map – which she pointed out was outdated.
"There's something that our counties have in common: We're some of the fastest-growing counties in the state," Steinhoff said. "Boone has grown by 6%. McDonald County has grown by 5%. Newton County's grown by 4% since those census numbers came out. So if we're following the constitution, it feels as though we should be reflecting those growths and census."
Deaton said that even the census from 2020 was just an estimate.
"I'm sure some people had already moved around," Deaton said. "So that's what the constitution prescribes. We have to use the census that happens every 10 years, which is what we did."
Denise Liberman of the Missouri Voter Protection Coalition said the Missouri Constitution does not authorize the legislature to pursue redistricting in the middle of the decade. She also disagreed with the idea that the map was fair, noting that the current map is already skewed against Democrats.
"The bill sponsor suggested that this map is fair already, the current map is heavily gerrymandered, giving just 25% of representation for 40% of the state's population," Lieberman said.
Public opposition overwhelms support during committee hearing
During the hearing, only one person spoke in favor of the map – Susan Klein of Missouri Right to Life.
Klein's group backed the 2022 push to go after Cleaver, saying it would elect more members of Congress who oppose abortion rights.
"Obviously, we look at every legislator, whether it's in state or whether it's in Congress or the U.S. Senate, and we work to support pro-life legislators at the state and the federal levels," Klein said. "And we support the process that would increase those numbers in order for us to help protect women, children and babies."
Other public speakers lambasted Republicans for diluting the political voice of Kansas City, the largest city in Missouri and a Democratic stronghold for decades.
"I love my rural neighbors who live very distant from me, but I couldn't tell you much at all about, for example, the cost of soybeans or farm subsidies," said Kansas City resident Susan Starnes. "Despite our common values and universal goals such as love of family, good jobs, education, health care and the preservation of our individual freedoms, our communities have some significantly different concerns."
Columbia resident May Hall said it was laughable to contend that the map was some sort of organic product from Missouri politicians – especially when Trump is pressuring other states to change their maps.
"And I ask if you really think we should be taking you seriously right now, because while you say it's constitutional, you say it's ethical, we can't remove this from the context of the broader situation," May said.
Joshua Dunne, chair of the Missouri Democratic Party's rural caucus, called the redistricting a "calculated attempt to consolidate power and silence the voices of all Missourians, simply to satisfy corrupt federal politicians."
"This so-called Missouri First map is a fraud," Dunne said. "It may claim to be compact and connected. But we see it as engineered by corrupt politicians to take our communities, carve them up, ignore them and leave them behind."
Debate coming next week
Thursday's affirmative committee vote means that the full House will likely begin debate on the remapping proposal early next week.
House Democrats don't have much power to stop Republicans, who hold an overwhelming majority, from passing the map. Unlike in Texas, Republicans can pass the map without having any Democrats present.
Still, House Democrats aren't planning on letting the map pass without a fight. Rep. Jeremy Dean, D-Springfield, was planning on spending the night in the House chamber after trying to call a point of order after the House adjourned its technical session earlier on Thursday.
"This is not just a Missouri issue," Dean said. "And that's what I was telling people earlier: What's happening here is it may seem like just one seat. But when we're talking about the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., the majority could really come down to one seat. And what they're doing right now is stacking the deck against the people of the United States."
Sharp said he hoped that the map would not only backfire because of the way it's drawn – but because it could light a fire under Missouri voters.
"I'm not convinced that Congressman Cleaver won't retain his seat. I think people are so upset, you're going to see probably similar turnouts in Missouri as you did for the presidential election in 2008 and 2012," Sharp said. "What the Republican caucus has lost sight of is they are moving too far away from their own constituents, and those constituents are going to need somewhere to go. And when they realize that, the Democrat Party will be here to support them."
If the House passes the map, it will go to the Senate next.
See photos from the second day of the second extraordinary session by St. Louis Public Radio's Brian Munoz.
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