Democrats address Missouri’s proposed congressional redistricting

By Don Bradley

South Kansas City heard fiery rhetoric on Monday about plans to redraw lines for Missouri’s congressional districts.

Calling the action an “an illegal power grab,” Jess Podhola of Kansas City AFL-CIO told a meeting of the South Kansas City Alliance the redrawn map would “weaken our voice and weaken our vote.”

Kansas City Mayor Pro-Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw piled on that the strategy behind the gerrymander proposal is “clearly to divide our black and brown votes.”

“We cannot allow maps to divide what makes us strong,” Parks-Shaw said.

The proposed map, designed to get rid of 5th District Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, would move many Kansas City voters to other districts and expand the 5th so that it takes in Republican-leaning rural areas in the middle part of the state.

Kansas City residents west of U.S. 71 (Bruce Watkins Drive) would be moved to the 4th District which extends to the hill country in the southern part of the state.

Other Kansas City voters would be in a district (the 6th) that not only extends to Iowa, but also Illinois.

The strategy, simply, is to dilute Democratic votes into Republican strongholds. President Trump pushed the Missouri plan and Gov. Mike Kehoe went along.

Currently, the Missouri breakdown for its eight districts is six Republicans and two Democrats. Backers of the plan say the redrawn map is simply affirmation that Missouri is a

Republican state and that its representation in Washington should reflect that.

In media reports, Rep. Justin Sparks, a Wildwood Republican, said that Trump asked Missouri to redraw its lines.

“And thank God he has and I fully support it because every single vote in Congress matters now,” Sparks said.

Election data shows that in 2024, more than 40 percent of the state voted for Democrat Kamala Harris.

The Missouri House approved the plan on Tuesday. It now goes to the Senate.

A rally opposing the new map was set for Wednesday at the capitol building in Jefferson City.

Texas was first to redraw the lines and other GOP led states might follow.

An effort in Democratic-stronghold California is meant to offset GOP gains elsewhere

Gerrymandering has been around a long time and used by both parties. What has opponents so fired up this time is that it is being done mid-census.

Missouri’s constitution says lines can be redrawn to reflect findings of a new census, which is not the case now since the next census is not due for another five years.

Parks-Shaw told Monday’s meeting that lumping Kansas City urban voters with rural areas does not serve democracy.

“They won’t carry our shared values,” she said.

She and Podhola encouraged the audience to contact state officials and let them know they oppose the plan.

“What they want is for us to lose hope,” Podhola said.

She gave out House Speaker Jon Patterson’s phone number. She shrugged when she realized she didn’t even have to look it up.

“Not that I call it a lot,” she said.