Folks, I almost spilled my coffee reading this one. The Missouri Supreme Court has blocked those new congressional districts backed by President Donald Trump from being used in the November election. I mean, you’ve got to hand it to the court for keeping things interesting. The decision was unanimous, and it’s ordered a statewide vote on whether to uphold or reject the new map. Bless their hearts, it seems like the Republicans were really counting on those new districts to help them win an additional seat and hold onto their slim House majority in the midterms.
The whole thing started when Trump urged Republicans to redraw congressional districts to their advantage. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session last year to dramatically reconfigure the 5th Congressional District, held by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. You can’t make this stuff up – they were trying to split Kansas City into three districts. I guess that’s one way to get an edge in the election.
The Missouri Supreme Court said the new districts can’t be used in the November general election, or ever again, unless voters first uphold the new districts passed by the Republican-led Legislature. The court ruled that the new districts were effectively placed on hold in December, when opponents submitted over 300,000 petition signatures seeking to put the map to a vote of the people. Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins waited until primary election day in August to reject the petition, but the Supreme Court overturned his decision.
Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway said she would immediately appeal to the US Supreme Court, asserting that the decision “has thrust our state into a full-fledged constitutional crisis.” Hanaway called the ruling an unprecedented violation of federal law, saying “Never before in American history has a court overturned a congressional map after a primary and before a general election.” I’m no lawyer, but it sounds like they’re going to be busy in the courts for a while.
The redistricting battle has spread to over a quarter of states, with Trump’s quest for a midterm election advantage triggering an unusual mid-decade redistricting battle. Congressional districts are typically redrawn at the start of each decade, based on new census data. But this time, Republicans had hoped to net as many as 10 additional seats nationally. The Missouri Supreme Court ruling was one of only a few nationally to go against Republicans’ redistricting plans.
In the end, it seems like the people of Missouri will get to decide what happens with their congressional districts. And that’s a good thing, because, as Grant Christensen, a protester outside the state Supreme Court, said, “Gerrymandering is the same as voter suppression.” Well, I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but I do think it’s interesting to see how this all plays out. Somewhere in Atlanta, a producer thought this sounded terrifying, but to me, it just sounds like politics as usual. Anyway, it’ll be fun to watch, and I’ll be here with my coffee, ready to see what happens next. And who knows, maybe the voters will surprise us all and make this election season a little more interesting. 😊
Armchair patriot. Believes in the free market, cold beer, and that there’s always a guy named George behind every CNN segment.
Former remote-throwing champion turned #1 couch commentator on liberal panic in the media. Born in Texas (or so his mug says), he earned a degree in Fake Newsology & Beer Philosophy from YouTube University.
