Missouri Republicans are considering redrawing their state’s congressional lines to add another red House seat, the latest volley in a national battle over control of the lower chamber in 2026.
The state currently has a six Republican, two Democrat House delegation. And while no map has been released, a redraw would likely target Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-based district.
Gov. Mike Kehoe, a Republican, said he was open to the idea in an interview with Fox 2 News that was published on Monday. “Is Missouri represented properly in Washington, D.C., and quite frankly, what can we do to support President Trump’s agenda?” he said.
Kehoe “will always consider options” which “provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians,” his spokesperson Gabby Picard wrote in a statement to POLITICO on Tuesday.
Both parties are currently locked in a national fight to gerrymander state lines ahead of the midterms. Republicans in Texas have put forward a new map that could flip as many as five seats red — sending Texas Democratic lawmakers scrambling out of the state to deny the legislature the quorum needed to pass the map. And in response, Democrats in other states — particularly California — are eyeing ways to do their own mid-decade redistricting.
In an interview with CNBC Tuesday, President Donald Trump said Republicans were “entitled” to the seats in Texas. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Trump is pushing for Missouri to redistrict, but Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins told The Missouri Independent in July that he had received a call from a White House staffer encouraging it.
Cindy O’Laughlin, Missouri Senate’s president pro tem, said in a statement to POLITICO “no decision has been made” yet, but that if Kehoe calls a special session “the Senate will be ready to engage in those discussions.”
Cleaver, the Missouri Democrat whose seat would likely be affected by the potential redistricting, said Democrats in states like California and New York “are now required to respond” in kind.
“I think this is absolutely awful what they’re doing, it’s not helpful or wholesome for our democracy,” Cleaver said. “But, I think Democrats are going to be required not only by their constituency, but by the demands of democracy, to fight back.”
Cleaver said he spoke to Kehoe on the phone about redistricting after learning about it on the news, but that neither man made requests or commitments to each other out of respect.
However, the lawmaker, who has served in the House since 2005, noted that his team is already working on legal options in the case the plan moves forward.
“If we can’t convince Republicans that this is damaging to their brand and to this country, then we’ll have to convince a judge,” Cleaver said.
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