KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Missouri Republicans are under pressure from President Donald Trump and a group of hard-right lawmakers to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts and tighten the GOP’s already firm grip on the state.

Kansas City is the likely target.

Trump’s political team has expressed interest in redrawing Missouri’s U.S. House map so Republicans can pick up another congressional seat. The presumptive move would be to split up the Democratic-leaning voters in Kansas City who make up much of U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th District, according to Republican Rep. Eric Burlison, who told The Star he spoke with someone in Trump’s campaign late last week.

“What they said is that they are looking to add a seat in Missouri — to redraw the lines to add a seat,” Burlison said. “They feel like that was a seat that was missed, that was left on the table from the previous census.”

The move would be remarkable, signifying a brazen attempt by Trump and Republican state lawmakers to dampen the voting power of Kansas City to ensure Republicans maintain a majority in the U.S. House. It’s also certain to run into legal challenges.

Cleaver blasted the idea on Monday, calling the effort unconstitutional in a statement to The Star. The longtime congressman added that redistricting discussions would also “further intensify” and widen the gulf between Republicans and Democrats.

“Any attempt to implement a mid-decade gerrymander that silences the legitimate voices of communities across Western Missouri will be met with a strong legal challenge,” Cleaver said.

Under the proposed plan, which lawmakers have also confirmed to various media outlets, Republicans would be able to pick up seven of the state’s eight congressional districts. Currently, Republicans control six and Democrats hold the 5th District in Kansas City and the 1st District in St. Louis.

Congressional districts are typically redrawn once every 10 years based on population changes released from the U.S. Census Bureau. Some hard-right Republicans pushed for a so-called 7-1 map during the last redistricting cycle in 2022, but those efforts failed after lawmakers settled on a map that preserved the current 6-2 makeup.

Missouri lawmakers on board?

Lawmakers in the right-wing Missouri Freedom Caucus, which frequently quarrels with GOP leadership in the state Senate, have already rallied behind Trump’s idea. Because the General Assembly is not currently in session, the group has demanded Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe call legislators back into a special session to redraw the map.

A Kehoe spokesperson was noncommittal on Monday when asked whether the Republican governor was supportive of the idea, saying that “discussions are always being held to ensure that conservative Missouri values are represented in Washington.”

“Governor Kehoe will always consider options that provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians,” spokesperson Gabby Picard said in a statement.

The plan in Missouri echoes a national blitz over redistricting. Texas Republicans have already moved forward with a similar plan. Burlison also suggested that the Missouri push was in response to a potential redistricting effort by Democrats in California.

But it remains unclear whether all Missouri Republican lawmakers will be on board. The last time legislators redrew the state’s congressional maps, the debate boiled over into a heated fight that divided Republicans for most of the 2022 legislative session.

When Republican lawmakers settled on the state’s current map, the decision came amid concerns that splitting Cleaver’s Kansas City district could backfire and lead to Democrats winning other competitive districts. Sen. Mike Cierpiot, a Lee’s Summit Republican, pointed to that possibility in an interview with The Star.

Cierpiot, a vocal critic of the Freedom Caucus, said he is not philosophically opposed to the so-called 7-1 map. But he said any redistricting effort has to be sustainable so that Republicans don’t end up losing more districts in a future election year in which the GOP performs poorly.

“It’s got to be something that can stand up to a bad Republican year, which at some point we’ll have,” Cierpiot said.

Potential backlash?

Cierpiot’s emphasis on the potential for a bad Republican year is noteworthy. Republicans have for years enjoyed strong control of Missouri and currently hold every statewide office and both chambers of the legislature.

But the proposed redistricting effort comes as Missouri Republicans already face some voter backlash for attempting to overhaul two voter-approved laws during the most recent legislative session, paid sick leave and abortion rights.

In addition to redistricting, some Republicans, including the Freedom Caucus, are also pushing Kehoe to call legislators back to Jefferson City to pass legislation that would weaken direct democracy by making it harder for voters to amend the state constitution.

Peverill Squire, a political science professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, said Republican lawmakers would likely be concerned about the optics of the redistricting push in the face of backlash on other issues.

“This would be a pure, naked power grab,” Squire said. “That would be sort of a rallying point for Democrats and for people who lean that direction. And, you know, we’ll see what the world looks like by this time next year, but if it’s going in the Democrats’ direction, that could just accelerate the political swing.”

At the same time, Republicans run the risk of deepening fractures, both within their own party and with Democrats, if they return to Jefferson City to redraw the map.

Tensions are already high after Republicans used a rare procedural maneuver to shut down Democrats over paid sick leave and abortion during the legislative session. Some hard-right Republicans are also bitter with GOP leadership on the heels of a special session in which lawmakers approved millions in public financing for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals.

For Cleaver, Kansas City’s congressman since 2005, state lawmakers should put their efforts elsewhere.

“Rather than wasting taxpayer dollars pursuing an unconstitutional effort to rig the system, Republicans in Missouri and Washington would be better served focusing on bipartisan solutions that will lower costs for hardworking families,” he said. “That’s what I’ll continue to prioritize.”

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