Missouri House Sends GOP Gerrymander to the Senate
The Missouri House in a 90-65 vote approved a Republican congressional gerrymander, advancing the map to the Senate as part of a national plan to try to rig the 2026 election by eliminating Democratic seats in Congress. The new map targets residents of the state’s 5th Congressional District in an attempt to deliver an additional Republican seat at President Donald Trump’s request.
The House also launched an attack on direct democracy, approving a bill that would make it much more difficult for voters to pass ballot measures.
State Rep. Ashley Aune (D) gave a scathing summary of the redistricting plan shortly before the vote.
“The Missouri GOP is aiding and abetting the systematic destruction of our democracy by an authoritarian regime led by a geriatric con man who knows the only way he can win is to cheat,” Aune said to angry shouts from Republican colleagues.
During Aune’s speech, Republicans called a point of order to stop her, complaining that she was “attacking the President of the United States.”
“Here’s what’s at stake with this map,” Aune continued. “Kansas City is losing fair, democratic representation in Congress. Federal investments in affordable housing, affordable energy, public safety, health care access and more, in my community, are on the chopping block.”
The House sent the map to the Senate for consideration Tuesday after a hasty redistricting process, just 12 days after Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) released the map to the public.
The map doesn’t have unanimous support from Missouri House Republicans.
House Speaker Jon Patterson (R) voted against the map in Monday’s preliminary vote – a decision Jackson County Democrats called cowardly.
“As Speaker of the House, Lee’s Summit Representative Patterson had the power to stop these bills before they ever reached the floor. Instead, he chose to play politics – casting a meaningless ‘no’ vote after allowing both bills to advance. That is not leadership. That is cowardice,” the group said in a statement.
State Rep. David Tyson Smith (D) slammed GOP colleagues for failing to stand up against Trump’s scheme to keep Republicans in power in 2026.
“This is a president who is not planning on leaving the White House,” Tyson Smith said. “That’s what this bill is about. It’s about a directive from the President of the United States, a president who has no respect for the separation of powers….Now is the time for courage. Now is the time for valor. And I call on governors around the country, I call on legislatures around the country, to stand up and fight. Don’t be afraid. Push back.”
The Missouri House also sent proposed legislation to the Senate Tuesday aimed at making it harder for residents to use the state’s initiative petition process. The bill would require a ballot measure to receive a majority in all eight Missouri congressional districts in order to pass – setting up a potential scenario where a widely popular initiative could be defeated by a small percentage of voters in one district.