The Missouri NAACP is challenging an attempt by Republican lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional map and splinter Kansas City into three different districts.
The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Cole County, an attempt to block a special legislative session called by Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts — with a focus on Kansas City. It’s the first legal challenge against the special session, which convened on Wednesday.
The lawsuit argues that Kehoe’s decision to call a special session was unconstitutional, and that his reasons for doing so — to approve a new Congressional map and change the laws around citizen initiative petitions — do not constitute an “extraordinary occasion.”
“Although the question of what an ‘extraordinary occasion’ under the Missouri Constitution has not been tested in the Courts, no governor has ever before convened the legislature based on similar facts,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit also argues that the state constitution does not expressly grant Kehoe the authority to request a new Congressional map from the Missouri General Assembly without an action from Congress.
The Missouri NAACP, Kansas City resident Patricia Jones and Columbia resident Traci Wilson Kleekamp are plaintiffs in the case. The lawsuit asks a judge to block the special session from happening — and rule that that Kehoe’s calling of a special session is unconstitutional.
The map proposed by Kehoe and Missouri Republicans would carve up Kansas City and splinter votes from the 5th Congressional district into the 4th and 6th districts, lumping together urban voters into more rural districts currently held by Republicans.
Advocates criticizing the move say it would dilute the voting power of Black and Hispanic voters in Kansas City and weaken Democratic voter representation. If approved, it would turn Missouri into a 7-1 Republican dominated state — and satisfy the wishes of President Donald Trump.
