GOP leader says redistricting can oust Davids. But Kelly wants new way of drawing maps

Democatic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called Friday for creation of a nonpartisan commission to draw new state legislative and congressional districts after video circulated showing the top Republican in the Kansas Senate speaking explicitly about using the redistricting process to oust the state’s sole Democratic member of Congress.

Senate President Susan Wagle told a conservative Wichita group in September that the state’s four congressional districts can be re-drawn in such a way to ensure Republicans win them all. Wagle, who isn’t running for re-election, also said lawmakers need to shift Republican neighborhoods into her Senate district to ensure it stays in GOP hands.

“I guarantee you we can draw four Republican congressional maps. But we can’t do it unless we have a two-thirds majority in the Senate and the House,” Wagle says on the video, referring to the legislative supermajority necessary to override Kelly’s veto.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, who represents the 3rd congressional district, is the state’s only Democratic member of Congress at the moment. She is running against Republican Amanda Adkins on the November ballot. The non-partisan Cook Political Report rates the district as likely Democratic.

The video of Wagle went viral Friday morning after Davis Hammet, director of the civic engagement group Loud Light, posted a clip on Twitter. Although not a top campaign issue, the November election will determine how much power each party holds as the Kansas Legislature prepares for redistricting based on the 2020 census.

“My Senate seat that Renee Erickson is running in right now, it’s pro-Biden, it’s moved to the left,” Wagle says in the video. “And during redistricting I need to give her some more Republican neighborhoods in order to make sure she stays elected.”

In a phone interview with The Kansas City Star and The Wichita Eagle, Kelly announced she will pursue a nonpartisan redistricting commission. Current state law calls for the Legislature to pass and the governor to sign new maps every decade.

“I was going to wait on this announcement, but in light of Wagle’s comments sort of explaining how Kansas Republican leadership wants to manipulate electoral maps, I’m going to go ahead and come out now and call for a nonpartisan voting commission to be established to oversee our new electoral maps,” Kelly said.

The Legislature would have to pass a bill establishing the panel. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 14 states give commissions primary responsibility for drawing districts. Another six have advisory commissions that assist the legislature, while five states have backup commissions that take over if lawmakers fail to reach agreement.

Wagle on Friday said redistricting is a “political process” and said she is working to ensure Republicans are elected to serve as a check on Kelly and “make sure we have a powerful seat at the reapportionment table.”

“It makes great headlines to clip and distort the message and the truth. Everyone knows, as I stated, Governor Kelly will demand a Democrat map that will elect her liberal friends if a Republican legislature can’t put a check on her power to fairly represent Kansans,” Wagle said in a statement. “I have always been committed to advancing free markets, limited government and individual liberties, and right now, we are in the fight of our lives for the direction of our nation and our state.”

The last time Kansas went through redistricting, the process was so chaotic that lawmakers were unable to approve maps and a federal court eventually drew them.

“I really hope that we don’t end up there. That was painful and did not work out in the best interests of Kansans,” Kelly said.

A short time later, Davids called for a redistricting process “that’s independent, non-partisan and creates truly representative districts.”

“Corrupt politicians are using partisan gerrymandering to manipulate our already broken political system so it benefits their extreme agenda, not hardworking Kansans,” Davids said. “I believe every elected official should be accountable to the people they represent.”

Wagle’s full remarks to the Pachyderm Club, a Republican group, run nearly 45 minutes and cover an array of topics. The group uploaded the video to Facebook on Sept. 25, the same day as Wagle’s speech. But the senator’s comments received widespread attention Friday after they began circulating on Twitter.

This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 12:10 PM with the headline "GOP leader says redistricting can oust Davids. But Kelly wants new way of drawing maps."