AG Derek Schmidt asks Kansas Supreme Court to dismiss redistricting lawsuits
Attorney General Derek Schmidt is asking the Kansas Supreme Court to toss out recent lawsuits filed over the state’s newly approved congressional map, saying state courts do not have the legal authority to weigh in on such matters.
Schmidt, a Republican, contends that two lawsuits filed this week in Wyandotte County District Court should be dismissed on grounds that the state courts have no jurisdiction when it comes to deciding the fate of congressional maps.
On Friday, Schmidt filed a petition on behalf of Secretary of State Scott Schwab and Wyandotte County Election Commissioner Michael Abbott calling for the high court to make an expedited decision ahead of election deadlines. In it, Schmidt said the challenge in state court is without precedent and questioned the legal theories on which the complaints are based.
At issue is the Republican-drawn and approved congressional map that determines which voters will pick Kansas’ four members in the U.S. House of Representatives. Kansas, like every other state, is tasked with creating those lines based on population figures from the U.S. Census every 10 years.
The newly-drawn map is believed to heavily favor Republicans. It was passed by supermajorities in the Kansas Legislature over the objections of statehouse Democrats and after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the plan.
Republicans have insisted the lines are fair and drawn to account for changes in population over the past decade. Meanwhile, Democrats, Wyandotte County community leaders and fair-map advocates say the map is a blatant political power grab.
Legal challenges to the map were widely anticipated. Earlier this week, one lawsuit was filed by the ACLU of Kansas on behalf of Kansas residents in Wyandotte, Johnson and Douglas counties. A second lawsuit is being brought by the national group Democracy Docket and Kansas-based civic engagement organization Loud Light.
The lawsuits argue that the congressional map created with data from the 2020 Census is a brazen partisan gerrymander that dilutes the votes of protected classes, especially racial minorities. Wyandotte County — the most diverse in Kansas — is to be split in half for the first time in 40 years.
Under the new boundary lines, residents of Wyandotte County will vote in the 2nd District, which is currently represented by Republican Jake LaTurner. Residents of liberal-leaning Lawrence will be put in the rural and conservative 1st District.
The new boundary lines are ostensibly aimed at giving Republicans an edge that threaten the reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of the 3rd District. Davids, Kansas’ lone Democratic representative in Congress, represents the only district in the state currently considered safe for members of her political party.
In his legal petition Friday, Attorney General Schmidt asks the high court to declare that the state constitution allows state lawmakers to follow political objectives when considering new boundary lines. Additionally, the attorney general says the claims regarding racial gerrymandering fail to meet judicial standards.
The Star’s Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 18, 2022 at 8:25 PM.
