On Sept. 28, Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 1, containing the Missouri First Map: a new map that redrew Missouri’s eight congressional districts. Kehoe announced his intent to do so on Sept. 25, when he said in a news release, “Missouri’s conservative, common-sense values should be truly represented at all levels of government, and

State legislators have embraced norm-shattering techniques to boldly crack one House district. Voters may have the final say about that. In Missouri, the main legislative event of the past few weeks has been the mad scramble to dispense with decennial redistricting. Stripping away this long-accepted feature of American government with minimum drama demonstrates how fast

On Thursday, volunteers in the Kansas City area began turning in signatures they collected for a petition challenging the redrawn congressional map. The group behind the petition, People Not Politicians, says over 2,200 Missourians have signed up to collect signatures across the state. “I think it’s important that Missourians values are reflected, whether or not they

The NAACP’s Missouri State Conference has taken legal action over the redistricting bill, passed by Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, that now awaits the governor’s signature. The organization called the proposal “a direct attack on Black voters, Kansas City, St. Louis, and the very idea of democracy.” For no other reason

Nearly two weeks have passed since the Missouri General Assembly adjourned its special session, and Gov. Mike Kehoe has yet to sign either of the bills the Republican majority sent to his desk. The Missouri House of Representatives spent $159,706.60 on the special session, according to an email from the House spokesman Ben Peters. The

When Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe called a special session late last month, he deployed legislators into a partisan battle over two of the most polarizing issues in state politics. Weeks later, Republican lawmakers approved both: A gerrymandered congressional map that carves up Kansas City and a statewide ballot question that would overhaul the initiative petition

Even as court cases seek to throw out the new redistricting plan approved in the special session, a referendum campaign to put it before voters is gaining momentum. At the same time, campaign committees are preparing to battle over the initiative process By mid-December, Missourians will know a lot more than they do now about

Multiple public pushback efforts are underway to stop the new congressional maps passed by Missouri lawmakers. Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas joins Heart of the Matter to discuss what’s being done to try and stop it – and his potential congressional plans if the maps stay in place. Multiple public pushback efforts are underway to

Gov. Mike Kehoe defends the bill as properly drafted, while the ACLU of Missouri and Democrats opposed to the plan say the listing is a fatal flaw Gov. Mike Kehoe went on the offensive Wednesday against critics of the new congressional map approved by Missouri lawmakers, issuing a statement seeking to rebut charges that one Kansas City

Just days after Missouri Republicans passed a gerrymandered congressional map that carves up Kansas City, a new campaign is charging forward with a plan asking voters to repeal it. The campaign, called People Not Politicians, began collecting signatures on Monday to force a statewide referendum vote. The group plans to continue gathering signatures in Kansas

A new congressional map designed to redraw Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver into a solidly Republican seat officially passed the Missouri General Assembly on Friday. But the state’s complex ballot referendum process means the GOP’s newfound 7-1 gerrymander is not yet a done deal. Because of the sheer number of possible developments at play, including several

Editorial Board There was something sadly fitting about the fact that Missouri Senate Republicans on Friday shut down legislative debate in order to ram through two momentous measures designed to deprive our state’s citizens of full and fair political representation. So determined were party leaders to re-gerrymander congressional districts in an unheard-of mid-decade stunt —

A group called People Not Politicians announced that it’s gathering signatures to prevent Missouri’s new congressional map from going into effect until there’s a statewide vote. Voters will also have to approve of a Republican plan cracking down on citizen-led constitutional amendments. The Missouri Senate finished off a bitter and consequential special session on Friday