Kehoe cheers high court ruling on new districts: ‘Missouri First Map stands’
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Missouri Supreme Court unanimously ruled the Missouri First congressional map legal.
- Court unanimously found the map was not blocked by referendum effort.
- The Missouri First Map splits Kansas City into three Republican-leaning districts.
Shortly after the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the state’s gerrymandered congressional map in a pair of rulings, Gov. Mike Kehoe heralded them as a “HUGE” victory for voters.
“Missourians are more alike than we are different, and our Missouri values — rooted in common sense, hard work and personal responsibility — are stronger and far more aligned across both sides of the aisle than the extreme left-wing agendas pushed in states like New York, California, and Illinois,” Kehoe said in a post on X about an hour after the court handed down the rulings.
“The Missouri First Map ensures those values are represented fairly and accurately at every level of government.”
On his personal account, Kehoe was more succinct: “The Missouri First Map stands.”
The Missouri Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling, found the map itself, which carves up Kansas City, was legal and didn’t violate the state’s constitution. In the second ruling, it also found unanimously that the map was not blocked even though a referendum campaign turned in signatures to force a statewide vote on it.
Because Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskin has not yet completed the referendum certification process, the judges wrote they can’t determine whether the map is in effect yet.
Kehoe, however, said that voters will head to the polls in August to vote for candidates in the newly drawn districts.
The Supreme Court’s decision is seen as a victory for President Donald Trump, who leaned on the state Republicans to redraw the map amid a nationwide redistricting fight over U.S. House seats.
In late August, Kehoe called state lawmakers into a special session to redraw the state’s congressional map, using one created by his team. Conservative supporters coined the map as the “Missouri First Map.” Kehoe signed the map into law in late September.
The map splits Kansas City voters into three Republican-leaning districts, with the apparent goal to oust U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by carving up his 5th Congressional District in Kansas City.
The new boundaries carved more than 70,000 minority residents out of Cleaver’s district and used Troost Avenue, Kansas City’s historic racial dividing line, to split up the districts. The 5th Congressional District now combines voters in eastern Jackson County with voters places like Jefferson City, Maries County, and Osage County.
The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed.
