JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Missouri Republicans are weighing whether to push for the elimination of a safe Democratic congressional district in Kansas City later this year during the state’s once-every-decade redistricting process.
Such a change in the state’s congressional map, leaving U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., without a safe district, would seem to further erode Democratic power in Missouri, where Democrats currently control two seats and Republicans hold six.
But the GOP chairman of the Missouri House redistricting committee said an aggressive strategy by Republicans could backfire in the long run, with Democrats potentially winning three congressional seats by the end of the decade.
