American Republican Governor Mike Kehoe said on Friday that he is calling Missouri lawmakers into a special session to redraw the state’s US House districts as part of a growing national battle between Republicans and Democrats seeking an edge in next year’s congressional elections.
Kehoe made the announcement just hours after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a new congressional voting map designed to help Republicans gain five more seats in the 2026 midterm elections.
It marked a win for US President Donald Trump, who has been urging Republican-led states to reshape district lines to give the party a better shot at retaining control of the House.
Missouri is the third state to pursue an unusual mid-decade redistricting for partisan advantage. Republican-led Texas took up the task first but was quickly countered by Democratic-led California, where Governor Gavin Newsom is asking voters to approve a map aimed at giving his party five more seats.
Kehoe scheduled Missouri’s special session to begin on September 3. He released a proposed new map that targets Democratic conmgressman Emanuel Cleaver’s Kansas City-area district by stretching it eastward into rural Republican-leaning areas.
His agenda also includes another Republican priority – a proposed constitutional amendment that would make it harder to approve citizen-initiated ballot measures, such as abortion-rights and marijuana legalisation amendments adopted in recent years.
