MO Court OKs New House Districts in Nov08/20 06:28

   

   JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- A Missouri judge has allowed new U.S. House 
districts backed by President Donald Trump to be used in the November 
elections, rejecting a bid by to put the Republican-friendly districts to a 
statewide vote of the people.

   The ruling Wednesday by Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green is a victory 
for Republicans seeking to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House. But 
the case is likely to end up in the state Supreme Court.

   Missouri's new districts already were used in the August primaries. On that 
same day, Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins rejected a petition with 
thousands of signatures seeking to force a November referendum on the map. 
Hoskins asserted that Missouri's Constitution doesn't allow a referendum on 
congressional redistricting.

   The judge agreed with Hoskins and other Republicans, who joined in defense 
of the new map.

   "The Missouri Constitution does not supply any statement -- let alone a 
clear one -- reallocating authority over congressional redistricting away from 
the General Assembly to a referendum process," Green wrote in the ruling.

   Opponents of the redistricting plan quickly announced an appeal.

   "Everyone knows that Cole County is not the final decision here," said 
Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, who sued to 
try to place the new map on the ballot. "After months of delay, we are pleased 
to be moving forward to the Missouri Supreme Court to enforce our 
constitutional rights."

   Missouri's redistricting targeted Democratic congressman

   Missouri's current U.S. House delegation is made up of six Republicans and 
two Democrats who were elected from districts with boundaries drawn after the 
2020 census.

   But Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe called the Legislature into a special session 
on redistricting last year after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw 
congressional boundaries to their advantage ahead of the midterms.

   Missouri's revised map is designed to help Republicans defeat Democratic 
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City. It reassigns portions of Kansas City 
to two neighboring districts represented by Republicans and stretches the 
remainder of Cleaver's 5th Congressional District far eastward into 
Republican-heavy rural areas. About 59% of its voters are new to the 5th 
District, according to an Associated Press estimate.

   State Sen. Rick Brattin won a Republican primary in the reshaped district in 
early August. Cleaver was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

   Republicans had argued that the new districts should be used in the November 
elections even if a voter referendum on the map was allowed to occur at the 
same time.

   Lawsuit highlights dispute about referendum rights

   The Missouri Constitution does not specifically say that a referendum can be 
used to decide congressional redistricting, nor does it forbid it, which is why 
the issue ended up in court.

   Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway's office, which represented 
the secretary of state in court, argued that congressional redistricting is a 
legislative duty not subject to referendum without specific constitutional 
permission.

   The attorney general and the Republican Party also argued it was too late to 
switch district boundaries before the November election. Changing districts 
after the primary would cause "widespread voter confusion" and an "erosion in 
confidence in the integrity of the state's elections," said John Gore, an 
attorney for national, congressional and state Republican committees.

   The judge agreed, ruling that a district swap after the primary would 
violate federal law.

   It's been more than 100 years since a Missouri redistricting plan faced a 
referendum. In 1922, voters rejected a new congressional map passed by the 
Republican-led Legislature. The legitimacy of that referendum petition was not 
challenged in court.

   Redistricting battle spread to numerous states

   Missouri's mid-decade redistricting effort has been among the most litigated 
nationally, triggering about a dozen lawsuits over the past year.

   The Republican-led state was the second, after Texas, to respond to Trump's 
call to redraw congressional districts. Several other states followed. All 
told, Republicans hope to win as many as 16 additional seats from new House 
maps enacted in eight states: Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, 
Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. Democrats, whose counterattack faced several 
setbacks, think they could win up to six additional seats from new districts in 
California and Utah.

   It remains to be seen whether the redistricting works as intended for 
Republicans. The president's party historically has lost congressional seats in 
the midterms, and Trump's poor approval ratings could provide an extra hurdle 
for Republican candidates.