News: Republicans in the Kansas legislature are planning to petition to call themselves into a special session on redistricting, circumventing Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
An announcement could happen soon, per sources with knowledge of the plans.
This special session would be the beginning of a lengthy process to try and draw Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids out of her Kansas City-based district. This push, which comes amid White House pressure, is the newest front in the nationwide redistricting wars.
Republicans can force the governor to call a special session if a supermajority of lawmakers sign a petition. The Kansas legislature has a GOP supermajority in both chambers.
That’s a tough task. But if Republican leaders in the Kansas House and Senate are ready to gather signatures, they likely believe they have the necessary buy-in from their caucuses. State Senate President Ty Masterson, a Republican who is currently running for governor, has been publicly supportive of redistricting.
The Kansas legislature has successfully forced a special session only once, in 2021.
Republicans can pass a new congressional map, but they will again need a supermajority to override Kelly’s likely veto.
The map. Davids currently holds a purple seat that former Vice President Kamala Harris won by four points. A new map would likely need to split Kansas City among three districts.
In addition to Davids, Rep. Derek Schmidt (R-Kan.) already has part of Kansas City. Rep. Tracey Mann’s (R-Kan.) sprawling rural 1st District would need to stretch east to snag a piece in a new map. That could cause tension because it lumps together rural areas with urban and suburban communities that have little in common.
The roadblocks. The state legislature wasn’t willing to draw out Davids ahead of 2022, although it didn’t have White House pressure then. The margin for error is small. Republicans can lose only a handful of votes in each chamber.
And there are moderate Republicans in the Kansas legislature, especially those representing the suburbs in Johnson and Wyandotte counties. Those lawmakers may blanch at a request to blow up their state’s congressional map for partisan gain.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), who formerly represented the state’s 1st District, told reporters Monday that he knew state lawmakers were looking at redistricting. But Marshall sounded skeptical about the prospects for success.
“It’s, again, easier said than done. We have a Democrat governor who is going to veto that. Do they have enough for a veto-proof majority? …So I think it would be quite an accomplishment to get that done.”
And then there’s the Kansas court system. A new map is certain to attract a legal challenge and the state courts may not rule in favor of the GOP. Five of the seven justices on the Kansas Supreme Court were appointed by Democratic governors.
But Democrats will have to find a way to challenge the map in court. The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in 2022 that partisan gerrymandering is constitutional in the state.
One last thing to keep in mind: Marshall is up for reelection in 2026. If Davids’ House seat turns deep red, she could choose to challenge him.
