See how your KC neighborhood would vote under proposed gerrymandered Missouri maps
As residents across Missouri watch as Republican lawmakers attempt to gerrymander the state’s congressional map, voters in Kansas City will feel the most immediate impact.
The proposed map would carve up the Kansas City area into three Republican-leaning congressional districts as President Donald Trump pressures states to gerrymander their maps to ensure Republican control of Congress.
The goal is to push out U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, Kansas City’s longtime Democratic congressman, and allow a Republican to pick up his 5th Congressional District seat.
Under the proposed map, Kansas City voters would be split into the 4th, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts. Cleaver’s 5th District would extend hundreds of miles east to central Missouri, while the 4th District would stretch from downtown Kansas City to the Ozarks region.
The voters in the Kansas City area’s Northland, including Clay and Platte counties, would be included in Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves’ 6th District that stretches across northern Missouri to the Illinois border.
The map would use Troost Avenue, a historic symbol of racial segregation in Kansas City, as the dividing line between the 4th and 5th Districts.
It would place residents living on the west side of Troost in the 4th Congressional District that would stretch to southern Missouri. The district is currently represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Alford, a former TV anchor.
Residents on the east side would live in a 5th District, currently represented by Cleaver, that extends to the central part of the state.
Missouri lawmakers are debating the map as part of Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe’s unprecedented special session. In addition to the map, Kehoe also wants lawmakers to overhaul the state’s most visible form of direct democracy.
The mechanism, called the initiative petition process, has allowed voters to overturn an abortion ban, legalize marijuana, expand Medicaid and legalize sports betting in recent years.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 12:31 PM.
