Uncertainty mounts as Missouri stalls on new US House seats

Mar 29, 2022, 2:18 PM | Updated: 4:51 pm

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s candidacy filing period for Congress closed Tuesday without new voting districts in place, as the state’s Republican-led Legislature remained bogged down by disagreements.

Missouri is the only state where a congressional redistricting plan has yet to be either enacted or at least passed by lawmakers based on the 2020 census, though uncertainty remains in several other states because of gubernatorial vetoes and court challenges.

A total of 68 people filed to run for the U.S. House by Tuesday’s deadline to appear on Missouri’s August primary ballot. Each candidate specified a particular district, though boundaries for those seats remained unclear.

The U.S. Constitution requires that members of Congress live in the state they represent but does not require them to reside in their particular district. Nonetheless, candidates typically do live in the district for which they’re running.

Republicans hold large majorities in the Missouri House and Senate but have been unable to agree on how aggressively to draw maps in their favor and which communities to split by district lines.

The House passed a redistricting plan in January that was projected to continue the current representation of six Republicans and two Democrats in Congress. But work stalled for weeks in the Senate as a coalition of conservative Republicans pushed for a more ambitious gerrymander that could give the GOP a shot at winning seven seats. GOP legislative leaders feared it would spread their party’s voters too thin, leaving seats susceptible to Democratic wins.

The Senate finally passed a map last Thursday that it presented as a compromise. It is projected to result in a 6-2 Republican edge but would strengthen the GOP performance by several percentage points compared to the House version in the 2nd District in suburban St. Louis, which is the only politically competitive district. To accomplish that, the Senate map stretches the 2nd District southward into rural areas.

House members on Tuesday said that contortion would mesh together communities that don’t have common interests.

“District 2 looks like gerrymandering on steroids,” said Republican state Rep. Mike McGirl, whose home of rural Washington County would be paired with suburban St. Louis under the Senate map.

House Redistricting Committee Chairman Dan Shaul suggested that lawmakers should keep working on redistricting rather than rush to enact a map before candidate filing ended. The House voted 115-19 to ask the Senate to back away from its plan or grant a conference to negotiate a compromise.

But some senators vowed to oppose further negotiations. Republican Sen. Bob Onder said it would be “counterproductive.”

“I would vote for taking that pile of paper back to the House and leaving it there,” he said, referring to the redistricting bill.

Lawmakers could wait until the mid-May end of their session to pass a congressional redistricting plan. They also could change state law to temporarily re-open the filing period for candidates.

Until a new map is agreed upon, the districts enacted after the 2010 census will remain in place. But a lawsuit in Cole County Circuit Court contends that it’s unconstitutional to use the old districts because of unequal populations. That suit asks a judge to intervene and adopt new districts.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Expert skateboarder Di'Orr Greenwood, an artist born and raised in the Navajo Nation in Arizona and...
Associated Press

Indigenous skateboard art featured on new stamps unveiled at Phoenix skate park

The Postal Service unveiled the “Art of the Skateboard" stamps at a Phoenix skate park, featuring designs from Indigenous artists.
18 hours ago
(Facebook Photo/City of San Luis, Arizona)...
Associated Press

San Luis authorities receive complaints about 911 calls going across border

Authorities in San Luis say they are receiving more complaints about 911 calls mistakenly going across the border.
7 days ago
(Pexels Photo)...
Associated Press

Daylight saving time begins in most of US this weekend

No time change is observed in Hawaii, most of Arizona, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas.
15 days ago
Mexican army soldiers prepare a search mission for four U.S. citizens kidnapped by gunmen in Matamo...
Associated Press

How the 4 abducted Americans in Mexico were located

The anonymous tip that led Mexican authorities to a remote shack where four abducted Americans were held described armed men and blindfolds.
15 days ago
Tom Brundy points to a newly built irrigation canal on one of the fields at his farm Tuesday, Feb. ...
Associated Press

Southwest farmers reluctant to idle farmland to save water

There is a growing sense that fallowing will have to be part of the solution to the increasingly desperate drought in the West.
22 days ago
A young bison calf stands in a pond with its herd at Bull Hollow, Okla., on Sept. 27, 2022. The cal...
Associated Press

US aims to restore bison herds to Native American lands after near extinction

U.S. officials will work to restore more large bison herds to Native American lands under a Friday order from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
22 days ago

Sponsored Articles

(Photo: OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center)...

Here’s what you need to know about OCD and where to find help

It's fair to say that most people know what obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders generally are, but there's a lot more information than meets the eye about a mental health diagnosis that affects about one in every 100 adults in the United States.
(Pexels Photo)...

Sports gambling can be fun for adults, but it’s a dangerous game for children

While adults may find that sports gambling is a way to enhance the experience with more than just fandom on the line, it can be a dangerous proposition if children get involved in the activity.
(Desert Institute for Spine Care photo)...
DESERT INSTITUTE FOR SPINE CARE

Why DISC is world renowned for back and neck pain treatments

Fifty percent of Americans and 90% of people at least 50 years old have some level of degenerative disc disease.
Uncertainty mounts as Missouri stalls on new US House seats