JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s Republican governor is scheduled to sign a new congressional map into law Sunday, setting the stage for multiple legal challenges to the controversial changes.
Gov. Mike Kehoe will take action on the rare, mid-decade redistricting effort in a closed signing session in his office in the Capitol. Aides said no dignitaries will be on hand for the event.
“After a thorough bill review process with our team, I am prepared to officially sign the Missouri First Map into law,” Kehoe said Thursday.
Acting in a special session called by the governor in August, the Republican-controlled House and Senate rushed to redraw the state’s eight congressional district to help Republicans stay in control of the U.S. House next year.
The maneuver was considered unique because lawmakers had redrawn the boundaries just three years earlier following the once-a-decade U.S. census process.
Final passage in the Missouri Senate came on Sept. 12.
Kehoe’s delay in signing the measure raised eyebrows after he said his office would review the legislation despite having drafted the measure at the request of President Donald Trump, who is concerned about losing the GOP majority in the narrowly divided House in the 2026 mid-term elections.
Amid the review, a lawsuit challenging the new districts by the American Civil Liberties Union revealed a glitch in the maps that puts more than 800 voters in two Kansas City precincts into two of the newly drawn districts.
Kehoe has said the apparent flaw would not derail the maps from being put into place. It is not clear how the issue will be addressed, other than through legal action.
“Missouri’s conservative, common-sense values should be truly represented at all levels of government, and the Missouri First Map delivers just that. We appreciate the work of legislators in the General Assembly in getting this bill to my desk,” the governor said Thursday.
To date, four lawsuits have been filed aiming to block the new maps from being used in next year’s election.
The new boundaries leave St. Louis’ 1st Congressional District as the lone Democratic stronghold among the state’s eight districts. The 3rd Congressional District now includes all of St. Charles County and the 2nd Congressional District catches more voters in St. Louis’ south suburbs and extends into red rural areas.
The new map stretches the Kansas City-focused 5th district into mid-Missouri, picking up rural Republican areas in an attempt to make it harder for Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver to win a 12th term in Congress.
In addition to the lawsuits, an organization named People Not Politicians is raising money and gathering signatures to place a question on the ballot asking voters whether the new map should be rejected as partisan gerrymandering.
Missouri’s redistricting follows a move by Texas to carve out more safe Republican seats. Other GOP states that could follow suit include Indiana, Ohio, Utah and Florida. Democratic states also are considering trying to add more safe blue seats.
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Kurt Erickson | Post-Dispatch
Jefferson City reporter
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