Kansas lawmakers must get to work now to draw new congressional districts before 2022

After Kansas lawmakers conducted a five-day, 14-stop redistricting listening tour earlier this month, one thing became crystal clear: It is imperative the Legislature convene for a special session in the fall solely focused on redistricting before the new year.

The elephant in the room that will dominate political and media narratives is the fate of the boundaries of the 3rd Congressional District, with its implications for control of the U.S. House of Representatives. If the public comments at these meetings are even a hint at the energy level on this issue, any attempt to carve up the close-in Kansas City suburban area will be met with a never-ending barrage of political and legal blowback that members of the redistricting committees may not yet fully appreciate. It could take months to resolve. Everyone is lawyering up.

But there are vitally important issues at the state House and Senate district level that will have broad implications for the next decade as well. With almost all of Kansas’ statewide growth of 80,000-plus people over the last decade in our population centers, and now that members of the military and students count in apportionment, state districts are likely to shift in sometimes dramatic ways in particular areas. With a state Supreme Court that has a verification role for state maps and is openly hostile to anything the Republican legislative majority does, the likelihood of a drawn-out process is almost guaranteed.

Waiting until the 2022 legislative session to redistrict would put incumbent officeholders facing new district boundaries, as well as private citizens considering running for public office for the first time, in the untenable position of not being able to fundraise and make their case to the voters before primary Election Day and beyond.

I believe in the legislative process and oppose the idea of an independent commission to draw Kansas’ districts. The Legislature cannot allow a repeat of 10 years ago when unelected judges drew maps with no accountability to the voters of Kansas.

It is imperative the Legislature come back to Topeka in the fall and do the hard work of redistricting now.

Bryan Pruitt is the director of Win3WinKansas PAC, an independent expenditure committee focused on regaining Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District for Republicans.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Kansas lawmakers must get to work now to draw new congressional districts before 2022."