Missouri governor OKs new US House map favoring Republicans

By: A.P.
May 19, 2022 4:36 am

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed new U.S. House districts into law Wednesday that are expected to shore up Republican strength in the state’s most competitive congressional district ahead of this year’s elections. ...The new voting districts took effect immediately, meaning they will be place for the Aug. 2 primary. But local election authorities will have to scramble to make the behind-the-scenes changes necessary for absentee ballots to be available by next month.

Parson’s signature on the redistricting legislation capped a rocky process that revealed deep schisms between Republican leaders in the state House and Senate and some conservative GOP lawmakers, who had pushed to more aggressively gerrymander districts to the GOP’s favor. That map that ultimately passed is expected to continue Republicans’ decade-long 6-2 advantage over Democrats in the state’s congressional delegation. ... “I think a 6-2 map is fair to the people of Missouri,” said Parson, a Republican. “I think a majority of legislators feel that way, and that’s the way democracy works.”

{snip}