JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A three-day debate over how to divide Missouri's eight U.S. House districts carried on Wednesday in the state Senate, where conservative Republicans continued to press their party's leaders to embrace an aggressive map that could flip a Democratic-held seat to the GOP.
The intense, prolonged debate unfolded after counterparts in numerous other states have done much the same thing - twisting district lines to give Democrats an edge in states such as Illinois, Maryland and New York and Republicans an advantage in states such as Tennessee, Ohio and North Carolina. Courts have overturned the Ohio and North Carolina maps.
Missouri is currently represented in Congress by six Republicans and two Democrats — one each from St. Louis and Kansas City.
A redistricting plan passed last month by the state House is projected to keep that 6-2 makeup while slightly strengthening the GOP edge in the only area close to a swing district - the 2nd District in suburban St. Louis, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner.
But some Republicans contend that map doesn't do enough to shore up the 2nd District. And some want to give the GOP a shot at winning seven seats by drastically redrawing the Kansas City-based 5th District held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.
Spreading out those Democratic voters would lower the Republican margins in other districts, which GOP legislative leaders contend could backfire in an election year favorable to Democrats.
Unlike some previous redistricting cycles, when partisan gerrymandering was more closely guarded, some Missouri Republicans have been particularly open about their motivations to bend district boundaries in an attempt to win as many seats as possible for the decade to come. They have been emboldened to do so by a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2019 that said federal courts had no role in settling disputes over partisan gerrymandering.
The Senate defeated a proposed 7-1 Republican map late Monday. But conservatives engaged in a filibuster than ran for 26 hours before pausing and restarting a couple times.
Senators held the floor by reading books, song lyrics and emails from people supporting their cause. Among the songs read aloud by Sen. Denny Hoskins was Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood," with the line: "Now we got problems, and I don't think we can solve 'em."
