Overview

• Gov. Mike Kehoe enacted the Trump‑backed “Missouri First” map, which splits Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City‑anchored 5th District and adds GOP‑leaning rural areas.
• The plan is designed to shift Missouri’s delegation toward a 7–1 Republican advantage, with critics warning of diluted Black voting power and new lines using historic Troost Avenue as a boundary.
• At least four lawsuits challenge the law’s constitutionality, arguing Missouri cannot redraw districts mid‑decade and that the new lines violate compactness and community‑of‑interest standards.
• One suit flags an apparent precinct duplication in Kansas City and contends the map stretches districts hundreds of miles, placing downtown Kansas City in three separate districts.
• The DNC said it will fund and organize a referendum drive using staff and a 41,000‑volunteer texting program; organizers must collect about 110,000–117,000 signatures, with geographic distribution, by Dec. 11 to suspend the map before it takes effect.