President Donald Trump's push for Republican legislators around the country to redraw their congressional maps to rig extra seats for their party suffered a setback on Tuesday, as Kansas Republicans abandoned their weekslong push to eliminate the state's Democratic held seat — at least for the time being.
According to the Associated Press, "The announcement by House Speaker Dan Hawkins ended a weekslong push by GOP lawmakers to circumvent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and call themselves into a special session on redistricting, which would have convened Friday. A session would have targeted four-term U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, the only Democrat in the state’s four-person House delegation."
The issue is not entirely dead, however, as "Republicans still could draw a map designed to oust her after the GOP-supermajority Legislature convenes its next regular annual session in January," the report noted.
The GOP theoretically could have used its supermajority to call a special session against the wishes of Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly to redistrict, but a number of obstacles stood in the way. First of all, not all Republicans were on board with the plan, with some fearing it would backfire and make Kansas' Republican-held seats more competitive.
Additionally, even if such a redraw passed, it could be challenged by a lawsuit, where Democratic appointees on the state Supreme Court could block it from taking effect.
Trump's call for mid-decade gerrymanders has already resulted in redraws in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina, but some of these are already facing legal challenges and, in Missouri, a voter-led signature drive for a referendum to overturn it.
