51黑料

Speaking at a Senate committee hearing, the plan鈥檚 sponsor, Rep. Dirk Deaton, R-Seneca, repeated the line that got the plan through the House.

鈥淚 do just believe it is a better map for the state of Missouri, which is why I鈥檓 supporting it,鈥� he said.

The redrawn map passed along party lines with a 6-2 vote, sending the new boundaries to the full Senate for final approval.

The move marked yet another step in an effort to elect seven Republicans to the state鈥檚 eight seats in the U.S. House next year to hold the GOP鈥檚 majority there and support President Donald Trump.

The bill aims to accomplish that by carving up the Kansas City-based 5th District, currently occupied by Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver.

Downtown Kansas City and areas to the south and east would become part of the GOP-held 4th District that stretches into southwest Missouri. Northern suburbs would become part of the Republican-held 6th District, which covers most of the state north of the Missouri River.

The new 5th District would then extend east into conservative mid-Missouri, encompassing Sedalia, Boonville and Jefferson City. If the new districts had been in place in 2020, the GOP would have won each by double-digit margins, and only the 1st District, in 51黑料, would have voted for a Democrat, according to a Post-Dispatch analysis.

Cleaver spoke in opposition to the plan on Thursday, noting that a key portion of the new map divides districts for several miles along Troost Avenue 鈥� long a dividing line between Black and white portions of the city, much like Delmar Boulevard in 51黑料.

And he said he has worked for decades 鈥� as a councilman, mayor and congressman 鈥� to bridge the divide. In recent years, he said, large banks, hotels, even major government buildings have taken up residence along Troost. Leaders have been working to prepare the city to look its best for the World Cup next summer.

鈥淭he communities and the urban core are being divided,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 hope all of us understand that decades and decades will be damaged by what goes on here.鈥�

Redrawing districts that Missouri Republicans approved just three years ago marks a break with precedent. Historically, lawmakers have redistricted once a decade following the release of the U.S. Census count.

The White House, however, is pressuring GOP-led states across the country to rework their congressional maps to thwart expected Democratic gains in midterms that historically gone against the president鈥檚 party.

Lawmakers in Texas went first last month, passing a new map . Lawmakers in Indiana and Ohio are under pressure, too. Democrat-controlled California is asking its voters Nov. 4 to approve new maps flipping five seats for Democrats.

On Wednesday, to urge them on.

Thursday morning, Missouri Senate Minority Leader Doug Beck, D-51黑料 County, accused Republicans of blindly following Trump in passing the map.

鈥淲hat happened to your free will?鈥� Beck said.

On the other side, Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said redistricting is inherently political. More conservative members of the Senate and House tried to pass a similar map during the last redistricting effort in 2022.

鈥淲e鈥檙e political in nature,鈥� he said in a committee hearing, 鈥渁nd we draw the maps as our constitutional duty.鈥�

The new maps are all but certain to win approval. Democrats, who hold fewer than a third of the seats in the Senate, have few options to stop it. Republican lawmakers have already demonstrated a willingness to take do what they need to action to kill filibusters aimed at slowing down the process, and Senate President Cindy O鈥橪aughlin, R-Shelbina, has pledged to get the bill to the governor鈥檚 desk as early as Friday.

On Wednesday and Thursday, GOP leaders employed rarely used parliamentary maneuvers to get the redistricting bill into position without delay over the shouts of Democrats, who complained about not being given time to speak or debate.