51ºÚÁÏ

Although Democrats in the minority have opened their parliamentary tool kit to try to stop the Trump-backed juggernaut, names already are being floated in both parties as potential candidates for the reconfigured 5th Congressional District, which would run from downtown Kansas City to mid-Missouri.

Possible Republican candidates include state Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a farmer from Marshall who is a former captain of the University of Missouri football team. Katie Ashcroft of Jefferson City, the wife of the former secretary of state, has been mentioned, while Gov. Mike Kehoe’s campaign manager, Derek Coats of Columbia, also has been suggested as a possibility.

Even former Gov. Eric Greitens’ name has surfaced, eliciting groans among Republicans who worked to oust him from office seven years ago amid a sex scandal.

Trump is calling on Republican states to redraw their congressional boundaries to favor more GOP candidates in hopes of staving off the possible loss of the U.S. House during the 2026 midterm elections.

Gov. Mike Kehoe obliged and last week put the bull’s-eye on U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th District by stretching its boundaries across the state to dilute the 11-term congressman’s Democratic base in Kansas City.

Cleaver has promised to sue to toss out the new map, but has not committed to run in a newly expanded district in 2026, after more than two decades representing Kansas City.

Just as Republicans are speculating on who may run, Democratic names that have surfaced include former Missouri Secretary of State Jason Kander and former U.S. Senate candidate Lucas Kunce.

The early name-dropping comes as minority Democrats and thousands of citizens are telling Republican lawmakers to slow things down.

“This is an egregious overreach of power,� said Rep. Keri Ingle, D-Kansas City, accusing Republicans who control all levers of power in the state of being short-sighted and greedy in their push to please Trump.

Rep. Richard West, a Wentzville Republican who chairs the House Special Committee on Redistricting, said he is supporting the new map because Gov. Mike Kehoe asked for the changes.

“I’m not taking marching orders from anywhere except the governor,� West said.

On Friday, a House rules committee forwarded two pieces of legislation to the full House, where plans tentatively call for a vote Monday on the rare mid-decade redistricting proposal, as well as equally controversial legislation that would diminish the ability of voters to change the state constitution via the initiative and referendum process.

The Senate, which has not been in session while the House has sped the two bills through the legislative process, is scheduled to gavel in Wednesday. Following committee hearings on Thursday, the two measures could reach the Senate floor Friday.

Senate President Cindy O’Laughlin, R-Shelbina, has expressed support for the changes, raising the possibility that she will use the chamber’s rules to cut off any filibuster by Democrats.

Both issues are aimed at representative and direct democracy, potentially altering the political waters in Missouri for years to come.

In redrawing the congressional map, Kehoe and Republican lawmakers are seeking to give the GOP control of seven of the state’s eight districts, leaving the 51ºÚÁÏ-based 1st District the only safe Democratic seat.

Proposed changes to the initiative process used by citizens to change the constitution include a requirement that a question on the ballot win a majority in each of the eight congressional districts, as well as a majority of the state’s overall voters.

Republicans argue that progressive ballot questions, such as the ones that legalized abortion and expanded Medicaid often are approved on the strength of the state’s urban population centers in 51ºÚÁÏ and Kansas City, leaving rural voters living under policies they do not support.

Rep. Eric Woods, D-Kansas City, said Republicans are sending out mixed messages with their proposed changes.

“If your concern is that certain under-populated or rural parts of the state don’t have a voice, how does that argument fly when we’re about to pass the map that draws downtown Kansas City to rural Webster County, over 200 miles away?� Woods said during an hours-long hearing Thursday.

Black Democrats said targeting Cleaver’s 5th District is racist.

“My ancestors marched, died, struggled, so that they would have representation, not only in this house, but in the U.S. Congress,� said Rep. Kem Smith, D-Florissant. “When you create a map that disenfranchises them, you will eliminate their voice. We’re not going back to the 1960s.�

Democrats Friday staged a sit-in on the House floor in protest of Speaker Jon Patterson’s decision to open the special session without a quorum of all lawmakers present. While Patterson’s office says the maneuver will save taxpayer dollars by not requiring officials to pay out daily expense and mileage checks, Democrats are likely to use the decision as part of a predicted lawsuit seeking to throw out the changes.

On Friday, concerned about allowing Democrats to hold the floor, Republicans gaveled in and gaveled out of the session within five seconds, foregoing the usual opening prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.

That brought catcalls from Democrats.

“I was looking forward to the prayer,� Rep. Smith called to the speaker’s dais.

Some Republicans also have raised concerns about the changes, but have held their noses and voted “yes� because they are concerned about Trump lashing out at them if they oppose it.

Rep. Brad Pollitt, R-Sedalia, said many of his constituents are upset they will be moved into the configured 5th District.

“That’s a struggle for us,� said Pollitt, who is running for a seat in the state Senate. Still, he voted “yes� on the redistricting question.

Rep. Scott Cupps, R-Shell Knob, claimed he has received death threats after he said the state should move forward with the redistricting because some Democratic states also have changed their boundaries to keep the GOP out of power.

Meantime, outside groups are massing to try to sway the outcome of the special session.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, was to appear alongside Cleaver in Kansas City on Saturday.

Lobby groups that supported Kehoe during the 2024 election are on board with the changes, including the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Missouri Farm Bureau.

“Quite simply, our members do not believe our constitution should be for sale to the highest bidder. We have a legislative process for a reason and ballot initiative petitions receive no vetting,� Missouri Cattlemen’s Association President Mike Deering said.