Will Missouri gerrymander Kansas City’s congressional seat? Unlikely, GOP leaders say

Kansas City’s safe Democratic seat in Missouri’s new congressional map is likely to remain untouched as Republican leaders negotiate with hard-line conservatives who had pushed for the city to be carved up and moved into several rural GOP districts.

GOP leaders said Thursday they’re negotiating instead on changes to outlying counties in the St. Louis region that could strengthen the Republican lean of proposed congressional districts there.

The goal, Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden said, is to accommodate some requests from the Conservative Caucus while in broad strokes preserving the proposed “6-2” map backed by Republican leadership that would keep Missouri’s current two safe Democratic seats and six GOP seats.

The 5th Congressional District, represented by Kansas City Democrat Emanuel Cleaver, currently includes much of Jackson County, parts of Clay and rural areas east of the Kansas City metro. The proposed new map, for use over the next decade, would keep the city intact, shed most of the outlying areas and bring all of Lee’s Summit into the district.

“I think the 5th is, I think everybody agrees, generally reflective of that part of the world,” Rowden, a Columbia Republican, told reporters Thursday.

Negotiations on boundaries in eastern Missouri continue.

“I don’t think it gets too far outside of that,” he said.

The Conservative Caucus took to the Senate floor and ground the chamber to a halt Wednesday as lawmakers prepared to vote on the proposed 6-2 map, derailing other scheduled business such as a confirmation hearing for the state’s appointed health director, Don Kauerauf. Senators ended up taking no action on the map.

Led by Sens. Bob Onder and Bill Eigel, and backed by the state’s leading anti-abortion group, the hardliners have pushed alternative 7-1 maps that would gerrymander Cleaver out of his seat in favor of a new safe district for the GOP.

They’ve complained that the proposed 6-2 map makes the 2nd Congressional District in the St. Louis suburbs, represented by Ann Wagner, weak for Republicans. Analysis by the website FiveThirtyEight shows the proposed 2nd District “would get a few points redder” but “remains somewhat competitive.”

Democrats have said a 5-3 map would be more fair. In 2020 former president Donald Trump won 56.8% of the vote in Missouri while President Joe Biden got 41.4%.

Most Republicans also have balked at the 7-1 proposal, citing the state constitution’s provisions that districts remain “compact” and “contiguous” and concerns that those GOP districts would contain so many Democratic voters the seats could flip in future elections.

The Republican infighting on the map took a turn for the personal on Wednesday.

“I know you want a St. Charles district so that you can run for Congress,” Rowden said to Onder, whose proposals include grouping the GOP stronghold of St. Charles County into one district.

Onder, a Lake St. Louis Republican, called the accusation “nonsense.”

Rowden and Senate President Dave Schatz, a Sullivan Republican, said they were “very near” a deal with fellow Republicans and would return to the capitol to debate a map on Monday.

The map is likely to split Democrats, earning the support of Kansas City-area senators for its preservation of Cleaver’s seat while St. Louis senators push for stronger Democratic representation in eastern Missouri districts.

Kansas City Democratic Sens. Greg Razer and Barbara Washington were the key votes helping Republicans advance a 6-2 map out of committee this week, and Minority Leader John Rizzo, of Independence, suggested Thursday the map was “acceptable” despite previously wanting a 5-3 proposal.

“Are there tweaks we would like to have? Absolutely,” he said. “Having said that, this could be as far as we can maybe take it.”

This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 3:43 PM.