Handful of Kansas lawmakers outside metro will decide KCK’s fate in challenge to Kelly veto
When Kansas lawmakers try to override Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of a congressional map that would split Wyandotte County between two districts, diluting the voting strength of its minority residents, a Wamego Republican will be among those deciding the area’s fate.
Rep. Ron Highland’s Wabaunsee County home in north central Kansas is a 100-mile drive from downtown Kansas City, Kan. The gruff retired veterinarian, who is serving his 5th term, didn’t vote when the map was up for debate last month.
But his vote could prove decisive now.
Kansas’s decennial redistricting may hinge on the whims of a handful of lawmakers who didn’t vote when the Legislature last month passed the map, labeled “ad astra” – “to the stars” in Latin. Whether Wyandotte County, the most racially and ethnically diverse area in the state, spends the next decade straddling the 2nd and 3rd Congressional districts for the first time in 40 years will be decided in large measure by lawmakers from elsewhere.
Kelly rejected the map on Thursday, saying that the Legislature ignored guidelines calling for compact districts that preserve communities of interest. Democrats fear the change would weaken the electoral prospects of U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, who represents the 3rd and is the state’s sole Democrat in Congress.
Highland hasn’t decided how he’ll vote yet.
His uncertainty has nothing to do with the hotly debated division of Wyandotte. Highland, instead, said he is worried about Lyon and Wabunese Counties — his state house district. Those constituents have spent the past decade in Kansas’ 1st Congressional District but would shift into the 2nd.
“We’re all Kansans but we’ve developed a lot of relationships in the first and a lot of the folks in those two counties were very active in the first,” Highland said.
If the veto is sustained, Highland doesn’t really care what happens to the 3rd Congressional District.
“I’m going to have to let those folks in Wyandotte and Johnson county area fight it out to see who goes and who stays.” Highland said Friday.
The Legislature passed the map last month by healthy margins that nevertheless fell short of the two-thirds supermajorities in the House and Senate needed for a veto override. The House is shy five votes; the Senate one.
Republican leaders are expressing confidence that they have the numbers, but the situation remains precarious.
On Friday The Star contacted every House Republican who was absent or voted present when the chamber passed the map – six in total. Of those who answered their phone, three — Rep. Samantha Poetter Parshall of Paola, Rep. Emil Berquist of Wichita and Rep. Tom Kessler of Wichita — said they would vote to override. Rep. Michael Houser of Columbus, who was out sick, and Rep. Trevor Jacobs of Fort Scott, who voted present, did not respond to a request for comment.
That leaves Republicans potentially just two votes short with three yet to publicly indicate their position.
‘I might play a game’
But this assumes every lawmaker who voted ‘yes’ the first time will do so again. And that is not a sure thing.
“There’s rumors they’ll be enough to break off to sustain the governor’s veto,” said Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, a Kansas City Democrat who vehemently opposes the congressional map. “I don’t have any predictions – I have hopes – but I don’t have any predictions.”
In the Senate, five senators didn’t vote when the map passed in January. Two of those senators are Republicans – Sen. Jeff Longbine of Emporia and Sen. Gene Suellentrop of Wichita – and GOP leaders need just one to vote yes to reach 27 for the override.
But Sen. John Doll, a Garden City Republican who voted to approve the map, told The Star that he may try to leverage his vote for concessions from Republican leadership. He mentioned bringing Medicaid expansion up for debate or increasing special education funding as possible bargaining chips.
“They’re playing a game. Everyone plays games up there. I might play a game,” Doll said. “Very few chances you have in my position to have a … big stick. This vote will be close, there’s no question about it so maybe I can get something out of it for my people.”
Doll said the map was clearly gerrymandered but that he primarily wanted to ensure the 1st District wouldn’t stretch to the Missouri border.
The override attempt will start in the Senate. A spokesperson for the Senate president said Friday that a date had not yet been picked as they are looking for a day they are assured that every Republican caucus member will be in Topeka.
Wyandotte County community leaders are urging lawmakers not to override Kelly’s veto. During an impassioned news conference on Friday, Judy Ancel, president of the Cross-Border Network, a social justice organization that seeks to challenge “corporate driven globalization,” questioned how a member of Congress could even keep track of who they were representing the way the proposed map is drawn.
“Our legislature needs to bring these maps down to earth,” Ancel said.
Clarence Brown, president of UAW Local 31 in Wyandotte County, said lawmakers pushing the ad astra map aren’t doing anything for the community.
“Quit trying to pretend we don’t understand. Quit trying to pretend that we don’t know what you’re doing,” Brown said.
A failure to override Kelly’s veto would force Republicans back to the negotiating table to come up with a map that can either gain Kelly’s signature or two-thirds support in the Legislature. If an agreement can’t be reached by the end of the Legislative session, the courts could take over.
Christopher Reeves, a former Democratic national committeeman for Kansas, said the situation will grow more precarious for Republicans the longer congressional maps go unapproved.
Lawmakers need to start negotiating state legislative maps soon. If a congressional map hasn’t been approved first, then state representatives and senators could pull support if they’re unhappy with how their own districts are drawn.
He predicted that Amanda Adkins, the Republican candidate for Kansas’ third district, will struggle to fundraise and campaign before she knows the makeup of the district.
“I think the Republicans are on a time clock and it’s not a friendly one,” Reeves said.
But he said relying on the courts to draw maps is a gamble for both parties and a proposal that separates Wyandotte and Johnson counties could still stand up to scrutiny. He mentioned an amendment brought by Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, to combine Johnson and Douglas Counties while moving Wyandotte County to the 2nd.
“I think in order to make a compromise we’re going to have to do some things that make everyone unhappy,” he said.
Equal protection?
Compromise will be difficult. During the last redistricting, in 2012, Republicans controlled the Legislature and held the governor’s office. But lawmakers failed to pass any map and federal judges drew the version that’s currently in effect.
By one measure, lawmakers have already made more progress than a decade ago because they passed a map, even if it’s been vetoed. But Steve Morris, Republican Senate president at the time, said the Legislature is more partisan now than it was back then.
“I would assume the remaining process will stay that way,” Morris said.
Michael Smith, political science professor at Emporia State University who closely follows redistricting, said maps in several states have been successfully challenged in state courts this year. Last month, the Ohio Supreme Court struck down a GOP-drawn congressional map because it favored Republicans.
The Kansas Constitution says all political power is inherent in the people and that government is instituted “for their equal protection and benefit.” The clause could provide an opening for a lawsuit, Smith suggested.
“If there’s a feeling that certain groups or individuals are not being given equal protection, you may have a case,” Smith said.
Republicans have cast the “ad astra” map as the best available option, even as a few acknowledge some constituents are unhappy.
Poetter Parshall, a Paola Republican who was absent for the first vote, said she planned to vote for the map even though she’s received negative feedback.
“I’ve had several constituents reach out and they have concerns about being lumped into CD3 because of past maps that have lumped Miami County into CD3 and don’t necessarily feel that they have been properly represented as being more rural than Johnson County,” Poetter Parshall said.
“Having looked at all the options, I personally believe that it’s the best we have and the best we can come up with.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 3:29 PM.
