Missouri Senate passes Trump-backed plan that could help Republicans win an additional US House seat

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Missouri Senate passes Trump-backed plan that could help Republicans win an additional US House seat

A protestor holds a sign in opposition to a plan redrawing Missouri's U.S. House districts during a rally at the state Capitol, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Jefferson City, Mo. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

2025-09-12T18:42:54Z

                                       

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Republicans handed President Donald Trump a political victory Friday, giving final legislative approval to a redistricting plan that could help Republicans win an additional U.S. House seat in next year’s elections.

The Senate vote sends         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-governor-redistricting-trump-33bfdc8790cdf8201d80c8c89258df3d">the redistricting plan to Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe for his expected signature to make it law. But opponents immediately announced a referendum petition that, if successful, could force a statewide vote on the new map.

Missouri is the third state to take up mid-decade redistricting in an emerging national battle for partisan advantage ahead of the midterm elections. Republican         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/california-texas-redistricting-trump-map-congress-b6222dd39c494c9ab48beafabc66dc35">lawmakers in Texas passed a new U.S. House map last month aimed at helping their party win five additional seats. Democratic         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/california-texas-redistricting-congressional-map-4c22e21d5d4022d33a257045693b6fd4">lawmakers in California countered with their own redistricting plan aimed at winning five more seats, but it still needs voter approval.

   
       
   

Each seat could be critical, because Democrats need to gain just three seats to win control of the House, which would allow them to obstruct Trump’s agenda and launch investigations into him. Trump is trying to stave off a historic trend in which the president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections.

   
       




   

Republicans currently hold six of Missouri’s eight U.S. House seats. The revised map         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-gerrymander-missouri-trump-3e7f49f7805daed8c6c83277bb66ba28">passed the state House earlier this week as the focal point of a special session called by Kehoe.

   
   

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Missouri’s revised map targets a seat held by         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/redistricting-gerrymander-missouri-trump-e5b75246cbee8eb674dfdb27381cc8ac">Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver by shaving off portions of his Kansas City district and stretching the rest of it into Republican-heavy rural areas. The plan reduces the number of Black and minority residents in Cleaver’s district, partly by creating a dividing line along a street that Cleaver said had been a historical segregation line between Black and white residents.

Cleaver, who was Kansas City’s first Black mayor, has served in Congress for over 20 years. He won reelection with over 60% of the vote in both 2024 and 2022 under districts adopted by the Republican-led state Legislature after the 2020 census.

                                   
                               
                           

                           
                   
                   
                   

                   
                   
   
       
           
               
   
       
           
               
                   
     
   

   
   
       

   

   
       

   
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                DAVID A. LIEB
           
       

       
           
                Lieb covers issues and trends in state governments across the U.S. He’s reported about government and politics for The Associated Press for 30 years.
           
       
       
       
           
               
                   
                       
   
   
       
           
       
   
   
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Source: Missouri Senate passes Trump-backed plan that could help Republicans win an additional US House seat