Trump White House pressing Missouri Republicans to redraw congressional map

By Rudi Keller

Missouri Independent

The Trump White House is ratcheting up pressure on Missouri Republicans reluctant to pursue a new map that could give the GOP seven of the state’s eight seats in Congress.

Missouri House Speaker Pro Tem Chad Perkins of Bowling Green said he received a call Friday afternoon from the White House after staff read his comments published Thursday in The Independent.

“We do redistricting every 10 years,” Perkins said Thursday. “We’ve already done that. To do it again would be out of character with the way Missouri operates.”

During the call Friday, he said, after verifying he was quoted accurately, he was told it was important to President Donald Trump.

“They said ‘well, we’re really going to try to do that’ and that might change the dynamic of it,” Perkins said.

The presumed target for the change is Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, who has held the 5th District seat since 2005 and was re-elected in November with 60% of the vote.

Cleaver’s office did not respond to an email seeking comment on the White House effort to defeat him by altering his district.

Missouri’s other Democrat, U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell of St. Louis, represents the 1st District.

To achieve a delegation with seven Republicans, Kansas City would need to be sliced into multiple districts instead of being encompassed by one. Neighborhoods heavy with Democratic votes would be added adjoining districts — the 5th shares a border with the 6th District, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Tarkio, and the 4th District, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Alford of Raymore — or combined with enough Republican votes to make the 5th District a safe GOP seat.

The White House political staff who made the call, Perkins said, told him they would be calling every GOP member of the Missouri House delegation as well as Gov. Mike Kehoe to push the project forward.

Kehoe’s office did not respond to a request for comment.