Supporters of a referendum on Missouri’s gerrymandered redistricting map rallied at the state Capitol Building Tuesday, May 12 after the Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments on two cases involving the redistricting map. Missouri Republicans spent more than a year fighting to put a new congressional map into effect, including a costly campaign to prevent voters from having the final say. Now that voters have that say, the organized Republican campaign to defend the map has all but vanished.
On Nov. 3, Missourians will decide Proposition A, a referendum on a redistricting plan passed last year at President Donald Trump’s urging to improve Republicans’ chances of winning seven of Missouri’s eight seats in the U.S. House. A “yes” vote approves the new map; a “no” vote rejects it and keeps the boundaries adopted in 2022. Neither outcome will change the congressional districts used in this year’s election.
After a prolonged legal fight, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Missouri to use its 2022 map in November. Proposition A will instead determine which boundaries apply beginning with the 2028 election, barring another redistricting effort.
The campaign to defeat Proposition A is pouring money into advertising and voter outreach. People Not Politicians, which collected the signatures that forced the referendum, has reported $5.4 million in contributions of at least $5,000 each since mid September. Put Missouri First, meanwhile, spent about $2.9 million trying to block the referendum but has reported no large donations since July.
Michael Hafner, a spokesman for Put Missouri First, said the hope is that “Missourians will tune out the noise and look beyond the millions of dollars in advertising” and support the map drawn by lawmakers last year. “Prop A deserves Missourians’ support because it delivers a practical, commonsense map that respects more community boundaries throughout our state,” he told The Independent.
But while Republicans continue hoping voters will approve the map, Hafner told St. Louis Public Radio there is currently no organized effort to support the passage of Proposition A. Instead, the GOP is investing money and resources in other races. “The left has allocated significant funds into defeating the map,” he said, “and Republicans nationally have other fish to fry.”
Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who fought unsuccessfully to keep the referendum off the ballot, said he remains firmly behind the new congressional boundaries. He acknowledged the competition for campaign dollars and public attention but said he believes supporters of the map are organizing at the grassroots level. “While they might not be the loudest or most well funded,” he said, “I believe they are a formidable force and their efforts will be worthwhile on election night.”
A fight over Kansas City at the center of the dispute is Kansas City and the 5th Congressional District, represented since 2005 by Democrat Emanuel Cleaver. Under the 2022 map, most of Kansas City lies in a district contained within Jackson and Clay counties. The 2025 boundaries would divide much of the city among three districts, combining its neighborhoods with Republican-leaning communities stretching into northern and central Missouri and the Ozarks.
The result would change the 5th District from one Kamala Harris carried with about 61% of the vote in 2024 to one Trump carried with about 58% – potentially converting one of Missouri’s two Democratic congressional seats into a seventh Republican seat.
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, argues the proposal would weaken the voices of Kansas City residents while tying rural voters to distant urban neighborhoods for partisan gain. He noted that one dividing line follows Troost Avenue, long associated with racial segregation in Kansas City. “It targets Kansas City,” von Glahn said during an interview on The Ind
