Missouri Republicans aren't being subtle about their power grab

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Missouri Republicans aren’t being subtle about their power grab
The state GOP is getting rid of fair election maps so they can grab another congressional seat for Donald Trump

By Garrett Owen
National Affairs Fellow
Published September 12, 2025 1:30PM (EDT)




(Salon) In Missouri, the Republican-led government is moving quickly to redraw state election maps to secure its political grip on the state, continuing a national trend of anti-democratic gamesmanship that one Democratic lawmaker from the state says will leave the nation’s democracy “with only cinders remaining.”

On Aug. 29, Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called the state legislature together for a special session after prodding weeks earlier from President Donald Trump. In that session, he advanced plans for congressional redistricting, namely a map that would give Republicans one more seat in the House. Dubbed the “Missouri First Map“, the plan significantly expands the blue bastion of the Kansas City-area District 5 in three directions, into more rural, GOP-voting counties, with the hope of diluting Democratic votes and turning District 5 red.

On September 9, the Missouri House of Representatives passed the new map, which now heads to the Senate.

Critics have called the effort a naked power grab by Missouri conservatives, the new map upending a status quo that, according to an analysis by Princeton University’s Gerrymandering Project, does not confer any partisan advantage.

In particular, Republicans are looking to split up District 5 and put long-time Democratic Rep. Rev. Emanuel Cleaver II out of a job. Cleaver, speaking to Salon, argued that’s because Republicans nationwide are “headed toward defeat” in the 2026 midterm elections. ........................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/09/12/missouri-republicans-arent-being-subtle-about-their-power-grab/