Missouri Begins GOP Gerrymander to Help Trump Rig 2026 Election 

Republicans’ national effort to rig the 2026 election and win a GOP majority in Congress landed at a Missouri House committee hearing Thursday as the state became the latest to begin a rare mid-decade redistricting push at President Donald Trump’s urging. 

Currently, Missouri’s eight congressional districts are represented by six Republicans and two Democrats. Under the new map unveiled last week by Gov. Mike Kehoe (R), the GOP could pick up one additional seat, at the expense of Black voters in Kansas City. 

GOP leaders claimed the map was drawn by Kehoe’s office. But Democrats charged that it was the work of national Republicans.

“The governor directed his staff to draw a map,” state Rep. Dirk Deaton (R), the bill’s author, insisted. “It would appear to me they drew a map and he said, ‘I like that map’ and he came out and presented it, and only after that did anyone else say ‘Hey, this is a great map.’… If you want to start naming everybody that works in the governor’s office, you go right ahead.”

“I want the name of the person who drew these maps,” state Rep. Ashley Aune (D) replied. “If it’s someone in the governor’s office, great. But I think that everyone watching actually understands that the people who drew these maps are sitting in DC, and I know they’re watching right now. Hey guys. It’s ridiculous.” 

“Gov. Kehoe says that he drew the map, that it was made in Missouri. And Gov. Kehoe has never lied to me, and I take him at his word,” Deaton replied.

The Republican scheme kicked off in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signed a gerrymandered map into law last week that’s designed to give the GOP five more seats in Congress. California lawmakers then drew up the “Election Rigging Response Act” in response, approving a map aimed at countering the Texas gerrymander with five new Democratic seats. 

Missouri Democrats don’t have enough seats in the legislature to halt the process by leaving the state like their Texas allies did. But voting advocates are already fighting back with a lawsuit filed by the NAACP asking a court to stop the state from moving forward with the special session, which in addition to the new map includes a measure that makes it harder to use the state’s ballot initiative process . 

State Rep. Mark Sharp, the top Democrat on the committee, slammed his GOP colleagues for considering a redistricting plan that “had no path forward” just three years ago. 

“Democracy in Missouri is taking a devastating blow, Representative, one it might not recover from,” Sharp told Deaton. “Every Missourian deserves fair representation and not these political tricks…My city, Kansas City, hangs in the balance, right here, right now. I can’t tell you how angry I am. This type of policy is morally corrupt and inexcusable.”

Aune scorched Deaton for presenting a proposed map without any demographic information or analysis to explain the changes.

“I can tell you what the squiggly lines look like. What I can’t tell you is how the demographics change between your map and the current map. That’s what I don’t know,” Aune said.

“It meets every legal and constitutional requirement, so what more are you looking for?” Deaton responded, without providing any data. 

U.S. Rep Emanuel Cleaver, whose district is targeted by the gerrymander, said Monday he will fight the GOP scheme. 

“I’m not going to lay down because somebody decided in Washington that they wanted to mess up our community and our state,” Cleaver said.