TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas House overrode Gov. Laura Kelly's veto on Wednesday to enact a congressional map splitting Wyandotte County for the first time in 40 years.
It is all but certain to face a court challenge amid allegations that the reconfigured district boundaries amount to racial gerrymandering.
Republicans muscled the map through the House by an 85-37 margin — one vote more than the required two-thirds majority — a day after the Senate approved the override. The redrawn lines could weaken the electoral prospects of U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the state' sole Democrat in Congress.
The override came after House leadership held the rolls open, closing and locking the doors to the chamber for an hour while they searched for missing representatives and granted leadership time to sway votes.
State Rep. Michael Houser, a Columbus Republican who has been absent due to illness, arrived in the House for the first time this session, voting yes while hooked to oxygen.
Eventually 85 Republican representatives agreed to approve the map with state Reps. Tatum Lee, Dave Baker and Bill Rhiley changing their no votes to yes.
The Kansas Senate employed the same strategy Monday, ultimately failing to override in its first try but gaining enough votes after reaching an "agreement" with state Sen. Mark Steffen, who changed his vote to yes after anti-vaccine measures and a bill that blocks investigations into doctors who prescribe ivermectin for COVID-19 was advanced to the Senate floor.
The map divides Wyandotte County roughly along Interstate 70 between the 2nd and 3rd congressional districts. Currently, the entire county — along with Johnson County — is in the 3rd.
The new district lines would place Lawrence, a liberal college town, into the 1st Congressional District. The district, known as the Big 1st, encompasses the western areas of the state and its northcentral region and is reliably Republican.
The override sets up a court challenge that Democrats and voting rights groups have been forecasting since former Senate President Susan Wagle told a Republican gathering in Nov. 2020 that Davids could be drawn out of office if a GOP supermajority was elected to the Legislature.
Though lawsuits haven't yet been filed, advocates have indicated plans to challenge the map in federal court, on grounds that the Legislature unlawfully reduced minority voting power, and in state court arguing that Republicans violated the rights of Kansans by drawing lines for political benefit.
"We don't know the political view of justices that might make a decision on these maps," Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat said. She urged Republican Representatives to vote no so the Legislature could retain control over the process.
Republicans have acknowledged this likelihood but insisted the maps will stand up to legal scrutiny — especially in light of a mathematical reality that mandated either Johnson or Wyandotte county be split in half if the counties were to remain tied together.
Speaking to the House Republican Caucus ahead of the vote Tuesday morning, Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch, an Ottawa Republican, noted that each congressional district held the exact same number of voters. Furthermore, he said, the state would have good attorneys to defend the map.
"Our committee has done a good job, they've taken over a year, they held multiple town hall meetings. The process was transparent and open and they've done a good job of trying to keep communities together," Finch said.
"I think the committee has gone out of their way to put together a fair and reasonable map with historical president and I think we have a very good chance in court."
Republicans are also encouraged by a Monday decision by the U.S. Supreme Court halting a lower court ruling that Alabama must draw a new congressional map to increase Black voting power. The decision signals the high court may make it more difficult to challenge maps on the basis of racial gerrymandering.
Christopher Reeves, a former Kansas Democratic national committeeman, said before the override that Democrats shouldn't feel at ease with the idea of the map ending up in court.
"They should know if they go to court, they might prevail, but will they long-term prevail? If it goes to the (Supreme Court), maybe, maybe not, unless they've got a really good case," he said.
Activists and leaders in Wyandotte County have been vehemently opposed to the "ad astra" map. The swift process, leaders say, is just a continuation of years upon years when the county has been slighted by the Legislature.
"They'd rather just not compete for a vote at all and move us somewhere where our voices are not heard and we're silenced," said County Commissioner Andrew Davis. He added that he was hopeful a court decision could come out in the county's favor.
