Gerrymandered map could dilute Johnson County votes. What Kansas governor says now
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Kelly urges GOP lawmakers to reject a congressional map that splits Johnson County
- Ten GOP reps refused the special-session petition, denying Hawkins a supermajority
- GOP leaders pursue mid-decade redistricting to weaken Rep. Sharice Davids’ seat
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is calling on Republican lawmakers to “rise above” political pressure and reject a potential new congressional map that would divide Johnson County and dilute its voting power.
Kelly, a Democrat, told The Star in a December interview that she’s cautiously optimistic House GOP holdouts who refused to sign onto a redistricting special session petition in November will keep their conviction when the Legislature convenes in January.
“I’m very pleased that they did that but not terribly surprised,” Kelly said of the 10 Republican representatives who rebuffed House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, leaving him six signatures short of the supermajority he needed to call lawmakers back to Topeka.
“Those Republicans who stood firm against the whole concept — they’re really representing the vast majority of Kansans,” Kelly added.
Hawkins and Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican who’s running for governor next year, have vowed to double down on their push to pass a new map that maximizes a GOP challenger’s odds of picking up a new congressional seat.
A gerrymandered map would aim to oust Rep. Sharice Davids, the only Democrat and person of color who represents Kansas in Congress. GOP leaders haven’t furnished a version of the map they plan to introduce, but The Star obtained records showing Kansas spent $43,000 on redistricting technology and training in September.
Representatives for Masterson and Hawkins, who is running for state insurance commissioner, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
‘Standing firm’ on Kansas redistricting
Mid-decade redistricting is extraordinarily rare. Usually, congressional maps are redrawn based on new population data collected every 10 years through the U.S. Census.
Earlier this month, Indiana became the first Republican-controlled state to reject a map designed to create new safe GOP seats and aid President Donald Trump in his quest to retain a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House.
Kelly said she believes Kansas’ Republican holdouts will have similar resolve, even though Hawkins has already stripped several members of committee leadership positions as punishment for scuttling the November special session.
“The folks who opposed redistricting, I haven’t seen much movement on their part. There’s been no wavering,” Kelly said.
“I’ve been here long enough to know that there are times when people will take a stance but then they get a lot of pressure and they switch,” she said. “I’ve seen that happen here, and I know that these folks have gotten a lot of pressure. But they have been standing firm on this one, and I really appreciate the fact that they have done that.”
Rep. Clarke Sanders, a Salina Republican who lost his role as vice chair of the House Higher Education Budget Committee for refusing to sign onto the special session petition, said he hasn’t made up his mind about how he would vote on a map proposal in 2026.
“I never said one way or another about how I felt about redistricting. I said that I opposed having a special session,” Sanders said in a phone interview Monday. “If it comes up, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I’d have to see what it would be. I’m not all that confident it’s even going to come up, though.”
Sanders said he believes there’s “a good possibility” GOP leaders will make the calculation that there isn’t enough support among lawmakers to override Kelly’s all-but-certain veto on a map proposal in a year when all House members will be up for re-election.
“I’m not saying it won’t (come to a vote) but it’s by no means a slam dunk,” Sanders said.
Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican who’s running for secretary of state, said he hopes the December Supreme Court ruling upholding Texas’ new brazenly partisan map will help to quell Kansas Republicans’ constitutional concerns about mid-decade redistricting.
“This clutching of pearls and wringing of hands about, ‘Oh my God, we’re going to use politics to do redistricting,’ to me is just incredibly disingenuous,” Proctor said in an interview earlier this month. “Especially considering that our governor just told all of the Democrat governors as the chair of the Democratic Governors Association that they should do it.”
In August, Kelly told reporters that she’s “not a big believer in unilateral disarmament,” suggesting that it would be appropriate for California and other Democrat-controlled states to redraw their own congressional maps in response to Trump’s redistricting offensive.
Proctor said he doesn’t believe pushing for a new map will harm Republicans’ credibility with voters next November.
“The president wants this,” Proctor said. “I think the people of Kansas who elected him and want the American First agenda to go forward want this, and I imagine that any of my fellow America First conservatives who are concerned about constitutionality or have whatever qualms they might have, would certainly be persuaded by a personal phone call from the president.”
