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Missouri Opens Special Session in Escalating Mid‑Decade Redistricting Fight

Legal uncertainty could decide which party controls the House in 2026.

Missouri lawmakers recite the Pledge of Allegiance as a special legislative session gets underway on Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025, at the state Capitol in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)
Kansas Republican politicians are starting to talk about redistricting to gerrymander the state's congressional districts in an effort to flip the only Democrat-held seat.
People crowd into a hearing room as Missouri lawmakers meet in a special session to consider redrawing the state's congressional maps.

Overview

  • Missouri lawmakers held their first hearing on a GOP map that would split the Kansas City–area district held by Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, positioning Republicans to win seven of the state’s eight U.S. House seats if enacted.
  • The Missouri NAACP filed a lawsuit to halt the special session, asserting the governor’s call is unconstitutional without new census data or a court ruling invalidating current districts.
  • Texas finalized a mid‑cycle congressional map on Aug. 23 after President Trump’s urging, a plan designed to create up to five additional Republican‑leaning seats.
  • California’s Democratic countermap will go to voters on Nov. 4 as Proposition 50, and state Republicans are mobilizing against the measure that seeks to add up to five Democratic seats.
  • Other states are in motion, with Ohio required to adopt new maps before 2026, a Utah court ordering a new map this month, and leaders in Indiana, Florida and Kansas weighing redistricting moves.