Political Activism Needed
by Terry Sims
PETITION SIGNATURES NEEDED
A special session was called by Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe to discuss a mid-decade congressional redistricting plan with the intent to create another Republican U.S. House seat in Washington D.C. The request to redraw Missouri's congressional map came from President Trump in the hope that Missouri can squeeze out another Republican House seat to increase their opportunity to maintain control in the House after the 2026 mid-term elections. Missouri's redistricting followed the successful redistricting by Texas which effectively increased their opportunity to add 5 more Republican congressional seats in the state of Texas. The problem with this is that when a district that has typically voted Republican or Democrat is artificially changed, that group of voters loses their representation and they quickly lose any faith that they have any say in government at all. Unfortunately, they are right.
Republicans already hold 6 of Missouri's 8 U.S. House seats. The revised map for Missouri targeted the seat held by Democrat U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver by shaving off portions of his Kansas City district and stretching the rest of it into rural areas that are primarily Republican voters. The plan reduced the number of Black and minority residents in Cleaver's district, in part by creating a dividing line along a street that has served as an historical segregation line between Black and white residents. Cleaver has served in Congress for over 20 years and plans to challenge the new map and, also, to seek reelection in 2026, regardless the outcome of the redistricting challenge and the new shape of his District.
The Special Session also included a proposal making it harder for citizen-initiated constitutional amendments to win voter approval. Both measures were adopted by the Missouri State House. The Republican-led Senate passed both measures on Friday and Governor Kehoe signed the measures into law on September 12. The action could give Republicans another U.S. House Seat with the 2026 mid-term elections.
Typically, redistricting is done in every state-- nationwide--after the Census, which takes place every 10 years to allow for population migration. In this instance, President Trump is pressuring all red state governors to call special sessions to redraw Congressional maps mid-decade to create more Republican majority districts and add Republican seats to the ranks as they fear they will lose (at least) the House in the 2026 mid-term election. They are allowed to be 'partisan' in their redistricting, but not to take race into consideration in the drawing of their gerrymandered maps, so they have been careful to refer to this as strictly 'partisan' redistricting and not racially motivated. I don't know about you, but I don't happen to think 'rearranging the districts so they can get more Republican representatives' makes the process sound any better. It all sounds like just what it is immoral (if not illegal) gerrymandering and takes away the voices of a group of people.
The fight, however, is not over in this redistricting battle in the state of Missouri. Opponents immediately announced a referendum petition that, if successful, could force a statewide vote on the new map.
This is where you come in—Branch 203 members. If you see someone walking around in parking lots holding clipboards and pens, he/she is looking for Greene County registered voters to sign the petition to get this measure on the ballot. Please give them a couple of minutes of your time to sign the petition—whether you are for or against the mid-decade redistricting. I knew this was coming so I had literally been watching for a petition volunteer. I found mine outside of Petsmart on South Glenstone. You can often find these volunteers in the city parks, in libraries, maybe outside of grocery stores. I believe we need 5% of every congressional district in the state to get the measure on Ithe ballot and I'm not sure when the deadline is. I heard, possibly, the first part of November, but don't hold me to that. This is your state. We should be able to pick our representatives not the other way around. I know it would be easy to say that it's Kansas City voters that will be affected, but not true at all. All of the people in the state need to have their voices heard and this will effectively take away the voices of minority voters that largely live in one of our two metropolitan areas. Please, as a proud Union member, do your part. If you have felt like I do, that the chaos in this country is out of control and there seems to be nothing Democrats can do about it, this is that small little thing that you can do. We all need to do whatever is in front of us to do in our local community in the hope that all of the small things combined can make a difference. I will thank you in advance for finding your own petition volunteer—please Be On The Lookout!!
Thanks for reading.
Your Union Sister,
Terry Sims