Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe is calling Missouri lawmakers into a special session to redraw the state's US House districts as part of a growing national battle sparked by Republicans' efforts at President Trump's behest to improve their chances in next year's congressional elections. Missouri, whose legislature is controlled by Republican lawmakers, would become the third state to pursue an unusual mid-decade redistricting for partisan advantage. Republican-led Texas took up the task before being countered by Democratic-led California. The Texas map was signed into law on Friday. The governor scheduled Missouri's special session to begin Wednesday, the AP reports.
Kehoe released proposed maps on Friday, per Politico. Missouri is represented in the US House by six Republicans and two Democrats—Reps. Wesley Bell in St. Louis and Emanuel Cleaver in Kansas City. Republicans want to gain another seat by reshaping Cleaver's district to stretch farther from Kansas City into suburban or rural areas that are more Republican. Some Republicans had pushed for a map that could give them a 7-1 edge when redrawing districts after the 2020 census. But the GOP legislative majority ultimately opted against it. Some feared the more aggressive plan could be susceptible to a legal challenge and could backfire in a poor election year for Republicans by creating more competitive districts that could allow Democrats to win three seats.
Republicans won a 220-215 House majority over Democrats in 2024, an outcome that aligned almost perfectly with the share of the vote won by the two parties in districts across the US, according to a recent AP analysis. Although the overall outcome was close to neutral, the analysis shows that Democrats and Republicans both benefited from advantages in particular states by the way districts were drawn. Trump had announced his victory early, posting that Missouri would redistrict last week. "The Great State of Missouri is now IN," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "I'm not surprised. It is a great State with fabulous people."