Missouri Republicans are looking to follow Texas’s lead, pursuing a redistricting effort that would reshape the state’s electoral map to ensure Republican dominance.
Speculation began on Monday when state Sen. Cindy O’Laughlin, the Republican president pro tem, said Gov. Mike Kehoe (R-MO) was considering a redistricting plan similar to Texas’s. Missouri Republican Lt. Gov. David Wasinger appeared to confirm as much in a Tuesday statement, arguing that it aligned with the state’s wishes.
“Missouri is a solidly conservative state, consistently electing Republicans to every statewide office and sending strong supermajorities to Jefferson City. Despite this, our current congressional map still sends two progressive Democrats to push a liberal agenda in D.C., misrepresenting the will of Missouri voters,” Wasinger said.
“We missed the chance to secure a 7-1 map in 2022, a mistake President Trump rightly calls on us to fix. Missouri’s next congressional map must protect Missouri values and ensure our representatives in Congress are as conservative as the voters who send them,” he added.
Of Missouri’s eight districts, two are consistently won by Democrats, currently Reps. Wesley Bell (D-MO) and Emmanuel Cleaver (D-MO).
President Donald Trump won Missouri by 18.4% in 2024.
According to O’Laughlin, Kehoe “wants to be sure Missouri’s representation matches Missouri’s Christian conservative majority.”
She said the state legislature will “of course” take up the matter if asked.
“Governor Kehoe will always consider options that provide congressional districts that best represent Missourians,” Kehoe spokeswoman Gabby Picard said, adding that discussions are being held.
A national fight over redistricting was ignited last week after Texas Republicans unveiled a map that would strip the Democrats of five congressional seats. On Monday, 50 Democrats fled the state to strip Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) of the quorum needed to enact the measure. The Texas House voted 85-6 to issue arrest warrants for the lawmakers, though they can only be arrested within Texas’s borders.
The primary factor holding Republicans back has been the threat of Democratic retaliation in large blue states with a significant Republican minority, such as California and New York. In a Monday interview, Abbott dismissed the Democrats’ ability to retaliate, arguing that they were bluffing.
ABBOTT SAYS BLUE-STATE GERRYMANDERING ‘DISTORTED’ US POLITICS AFTER DEMOCRATS FLEE TEXAS
“That’s a bunch of crazy bluster,” he said. “Democrats are freaking out because they are realizing Texas has the authority to redistrict, and we’re going to do so in a way that’s going to lead to these additional seats that will vote Republican, and they will be serving in Congress in the next session.”
“And so Democrats are freaking out about it, engaging in rhetoric, but I don’t think they have the capability of actually living up to it and doing anything about it,” Abbott added. “Texas will continue to fight for what is right, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”