Overview

• Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the map on Sunday after a special session, in a closed event, with the law slated to take effect in December.
• The plan redraws Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s district by pushing it into Republican-leaning rural areas and splits Kansas City into three districts, a shift critics say reduces Black and minority voting strength and traces the historic Troost Avenue divide.
• Republican leaders say the redesign is intended to add one GOP seat, moving Missouri from six Republicans and two Democrats toward a 7–1 split as part of a broader mid-decade push seen in Texas and countered in California.
• Opponents filed multiple lawsuits, including an NAACP claim that no extraordinary occasion justified the special session and an ACLU suit alleging violations of compactness and equal-population rules, with a disputed 'KC 811' precinct listing that Kehoe’s office says is not an error.
• A referendum petition drive is underway to collect about 110,000 valid signatures by Dec. 11, which would place the map on hold and send it to a statewide vote next year if certified.