JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Facing those seeking to oust him from office, Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver warned Missouri lawmakers on Thursday that a redistricting plan backed by President Donald Trump is reopening decades-old racial divisions in Kansas City.
Cleaver flew from the nation's Capitol to Missouri's statehouse in what he acknowledged was a likely quixotic attempt to stop a Republican plan that would dramatically reshape his Kansas City district to give the GOP a better shot at winning one more seat in next year's election. Missouri's Senate is expected to give final approval to the plan as soon as Friday.
The stakes are high, because Democrats need to gain just three seats to flip control of the U.S. House, and Trump is trying to stave off a historic trend in which the president's party typically loses seats in midterm elections.
Cleaver, who has been in Congress for over 20 years after serving as Kansas City's first Black mayor, denounced the redistricting plan for using Troost Avenue as a dividing line — a street that he said had long segregated Black and white residents. Instead of being contained fully in Cleaver's district, some residents west of the street would be shifted into a district held by Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Alford.
“The line down Troost – I can’t explain it, I don’t have the words to tell you how damaging that is,” Cleaver told the state Senate committee.
The Republican-led state House passed the revised districts Tuesday while meeting in a special session called by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe. A Senate committee endorsed the plan Thursday, just hours after Cleaver testified against it. Republican senators have changed the chamber's rules, disregarding Democratic objections to press for a full Senate vote as quickly as possible.
Trump has nudged them along, posting on his social media site Wednesday: “The Missouri Senate must pass this Map now, AS IS, to deliver a gigantic Victory for Republicans in the “Show Me State,” and across the Country. I will be watching closely.”
Cleaver said Missouri's congressional delegation has a history of bipartisan cooperation and meets together monthly under the leadership of Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, whose largely rural district would pick up additional parts of Kansas City under the redistricting plan. But Cleaver said that cooperation is endangered by the redistricting push, which comes after Republican-led Texas and Democratic-led California also took steps to redraw their congressional maps.
“I want to warn all of us that if you fight fire with fire long enough all you’re going to have left is ashes,” Cleaver told Missouri senators.
Cleaver later reaffirmed to reporters that he plans to challenge the revised map in court and seek reelection next year, regardless of the shape of his district. The Kansas City district that Cleaver represents would lose Black and minority voters under the plan that tilts it toward Republicans. Other neighboring districts — though still favoring Republicans — would become more politically competitive.
Republicans currently hold six of Missouri's eight U.S. House seats. Cleaver said the revised districts could backfire on Republicans by giving Democrats a chance to win five of those seats.
When originally redistricting after the 2020 census, some Missouri Republicans raised similar concerns while rejecting a more aggressive map. But Republican state Sen. Rick Brattin pointed to GOP control in most of Missouri's local governments while asserting on Thursday that a map allowing Republicans to win seven seats provides "a right representation of the state of Missouri.”