Listen to the full interview with Missourinet’s Alisa Nelson and attorney Chuck Hatfield.
Missouri Republicans hold six Congressional seats, but President Donald Trump wants more. He is reportedly pushing the Show Me State to change its Congressional districts so that Democrats lose a seat in 2026.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for many government-related legal matters, told Missourinet that the state Constitution prohibits mid-cycle redistricting.
“Our Constitution says that congressional redistricting shall be done when the Census data is released, and it was done when the census data was released,” said Hatfield. “The way I read our Constitution, and there’s some case law that supports this, it cannot be done again until there’s new Census data.”
The Missouri Legislature changed the districts in 2022, after the 2020 Census data was released. Lawmakers settled on six Republican and two Democratic strongholds. That’s despite Democrats lobbying for a 5-3 party breakdown and some far-right Republicans trying to get a 7-1 split.
The case law Hatfield cites is Pearson vs. Koster from 2012. He said the Missouri Supreme Court case ruled the Constitution’s Congressional redistricting provision is triggered when Census data results are released.
“Then the Supreme Court said in that case the new districts will take effect for the next election and will remain in place for the next decade or until a Census shows that the district should change,” said Hatfield.
Some opponents argue that the Constitution does not specifically prohibit redistricting within a ten-year period.
“If you ever saw the movie Air Bud, there’s a big discussion about whether a dog can play basketball and the referee eventually says, ‘well, there’s no rule that says a dog can’t play basketball.’ That’s not really how the law works. We don’t usually run things on Air Bud rules,” said Hatfield.
Last week, Gov. Mike Kehoe said he is undecided on calling a special session to have lawmakers redraw the Congressional map.
In a statement, Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin said she will back the governor.
“There’s been speculation about a potential special session redistricting, but no decision has been made at this time. That responsibility lies with Governor Kehoe, and I support him in whatever path he believes is best for the state.”
Hatfield questions whether there is a legislative consensus among Republicans about what the map should look like.
“You might have an agreement that it should be 7-1 Republican, but which counties go in which of those seven districts can be a raucous debate. This has been a concern that some Republicans have voiced – when you try to draw 7-1 district, you’re almost, by definition, making one of the current six Republican districts less Republican. And I don’t know which congressman is going to want to have that not as strong a district.”
Hatfield said Republicans will likely try to flip is Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s seat.
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