Missouri Republicans are talking about a redistricting push to help Trump, GOP

Kurt Erickson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Jul 29, 2025

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JEFFERSON CITY — Republican leaders in the Missouri Capitol are considering the possibility of holding a special session in September to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.

President Donald Trump is pushing red states like Texas to redraw their maps ahead of the 2026 midterms in hopes of keeping GOP control of the narrowly divided U.S. House. Missouri’s effort could run in conjunction with the Legislature’s annual mid-September veto session.

“Governor Kehoe and his team are aware of the redistricting efforts in Texas and discussions are always being held to ensure that conservative Missouri values are represented in Washington,” said Gabrielle Picard, a spokeswoman for Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The end game for Trump is to alter Missouri’s map from the 2022 version that is safe for two Democrats and six Republicans into one favoring the election of seven Republicans.

Kehoe is keeping his options open while legislative leaders are being briefed on the redistricting push. Picard said Monday the governor is monitoring those discussions.

The General Assembly is not in session during the summer months. The September veto session could provide lawmakers the opportunity to take up the issue without the need for Kehoe to call them into a special session before then.

The target is Missouri’s 5th Congressional district, held by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. A new map presumably would leave U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell as the lone remaining Democrat in the delegation because his St. Louis-based district is protected by the Voting Rights Act.

There are warning signs about the initiative from both Republicans and Democrats, who say a redistricting maneuver could result in a fractured Missouri Senate and lengthy litigation.

“If attempted, I would envision a protracted court battle,” said John Hancock, a former chairman of the Missouri Republican Party.

Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-Affton, suggested Trump’s political team is attempting to divert attention from his ties to Jeffery Epstein, who killed himself in a federal jail in New York weeks after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges in July 2019.

“It’s frustrating. I think a lot of this has to do with the Epstein files. I think it’s interesting that they are bowing down to this guy who is protecting pedophiles,” Beck said Monday.

Targeting Cleaver’s district could be politically fraught for Republicans, as it would give Democrats a reason to use their filibuster powers to torpedo GOP-led priorities when they return for the 2026 legislative session in January.

Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, did not return messages Monday. She told the Missouri Independent last week that she had not yet discussed the issue with Trump officials.

Missouri, like other states, typically redraws its maps to reflect changes in population every 10 years following the federal Census count. In 2022, members of the Missouri Senate’s hard-right Freedom Caucus unsuccessfully pushed for a 7-1 map, resulting in the current 6-2 configuration.

On Friday, members of the Freedom Caucus again called for lawmakers to adopt a 7-1 map that would give the president one more GOP seat in Congress to ward off a possible Democratic takeover in the 2026 midterm election cycle.

“It’s time this supermajority Republican Party in Missouri grows a spine and actually delivers the congressional map that reflects the strong conservative values of this great state, as the political makeup of this state clearly demands,” the caucus wrote in a letter distributed by chairman Nick Schroer, a state senator from Defiance.

In 2022, the Republican-controlled state Senate rejected the 7-1 map amid concern the change eventually could benefit Democrats by watering down Republican-safe districts with more blue voters.

Although Beck opposes the short-term goal of Trump’s midstream redistricting push, he said Democrats could see more opportunities to win back seats in coming years if the president gets his way.

“Maybe it will be something we’ll look at,” the south St. Louis County lawmaker said.