Wyandotte County officials urge Kansas Legislature to reject redistricting map
More than 60 miles from Topeka — where lawmakers may or may not override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto over the proposed congressional redistricting map — Wyandotte County residents, local officials and community activists urged Republican lawmakers to keep Kelly’s veto intact and draw a new map.
On Thursday, Kelly rejected the map, which would split Wyandotte County — Kansas’ most diverse county — into two districts. The map is called “ad astra,” reflecting the state’s motto.
Judy Ancel, president of the Cross Border Network, a Kansas City based organization, was among several speakers who spoke at the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County in downtown Kansas City, Kansas.
“Ad Astra, we’re told, means ‘To the stars’” she said. “Well this map is out of this world.”
She held a photocopy of the map and another was displayed on a projector screen for all to see. The one on the projector showed how the map impacted Wyandotte County. The north side of the county would be in the 2nd District, which is represented by Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner. The south side of the county would be in the 3rd District, represented by Sharice Davids, the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.
The map was the first to gain full legislative approval in Kansas during the decennial redistricting process. States must draw new congressional and legislative lines based on population data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Republican lawmakers designed the map with such surgical precision that in the Stony Point neighborhood of Wyandotte County, which is south of I-70, one side would be in the 2nd District and the other in the 3rd.
“(The map) didn’t reflect the will of the people from the Third District,” said Tyrone Garner, Wyandotte County’s newly elected mayor. “A lot of people feel that the decisions are being made for this community, but not with this community.”
As it currently stands, Wyandotte County — along with Johnson County — is in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional district.
On Thursday, Kelly said the decision to split Wyandotte County in two was “without explanation.”
On Friday, others were more direct: the map was an attempt to gerrymander Davids out of office.
“This is not right,” said Rev. Rick Behrens of Grandview Park Presbyterian Church. “I’m appalled by this attempt to divide, to dilute, to diminish our ability to be fairly represented.”
Wyandotte County is the most diverse county in the state: 40% of its residents are white, 30% are Hispanic and 22% are Black, according to census data.
The county is a democratic stronghold in the state. But by dividing up the county, the 3rd District would likely become more competitive.
Republicans have generally cast the map as a good-faith effort to grapple with population growth and meet legal requirements for equal districts.
“This map, if approved, will shift 46% of the Black population and 33% of the Hispanic population out of the Third Congressional District,” said Clarence Brown, president of the United Auto Workers Local 31 in Wyandotte County. “This map will serve those who it is geared to serve — self-serve. This map ain’t balance.”
Several organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union spoke out against the map.
Residents and local officials in Wyandotte County have long seen several redistricting attempts meant to weaken the county’s voting power.
In 2012, then-Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal proposed a plan to place the county in the First District that would include much of western Kansas — a largely rural and mostly white area.
“It’s so disingenuous for leaders of the Legislature to talk about being fair, when, in fact, they know exactly what they are doing,” said Ramón Murguia, an attorney who grew up and lives in Wyandotte County. “The map is intentionally diluting the votes of African-American and Latino brothers and sisters.”
The coming days will tell how redistricting fight plays out. If Kelly’s veto is not sustained, a federal court could throw out the map if it deems the Legislature has gerrymandered district lines on the basis of race.
Many residents in the county have said they are in favor of the current map, which keeps Wyandotte County together. Garner agrees with them.
“I would like to stay as close to what it is today,” the mayor said. “I think that the legislators that voted for this map, they need to come back and talk to the people in the Third District, so they can make an informed decision that better reflects the will of the people.”
