News Missouri House Of Representatives

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 31, 2025, 12:52 PM

KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com. Members of the Missouri House of Representatives perfected a resolution Monday making it harder to change the state’s constitution through the initiative petition process. They also perfected a bill to redistrict the state's U.S. Congressional boundaries. Both proposals will go to a final vote from the House of Representatives Tuesday before then going to the state Senate for more debate.

House Joint Resolution 3 passed with 96 yes votes and 55 no votes. It raises the threshold an initiative petition needs to pass. Instead of receiving a statewide simple majority, the resolution requires petitions receive a majority in each of the state’s eight congressional districts. “If it’s something where there’s broad consensus across the state, 50 percent in each congressional district would not be a threshold that is unattainable,” argued State Rep. Ed Lewis, a Republican from Moberly. Education is one of the top concerns for the Missouri House of Representatives.

(KTVO) JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (TNND) — Missouri’s Republican-led House passed a plan backed by President Donald Trump to redraw Missouri’s congressional redistricting maps on Tuesday. Ignoring Democratic objections, Missouri Republicans are planning to redraw the map so Republicans can win almost all districts. In Missouri, lawmakers are in a two-pronged special session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe.

The redistricting plan now heads to the state Senate, aiming to strengthen the GOP’s prospects nationally in next year’s U.S. House elections. Missouri is the latest state to consider redistricting after Republican-led Texas and counter-offensives planned in Democratic-led California. California would need voter approval before redistricting can be made possible, and a special vote will be held in November. The Missouri House of Representatives' special session was quickly gaveled in and out on Sunday. Members on both sides of the aisle said they do not foresee a compromise.

The Missouri House of Representatives gaveled into its special session Sunday, then quickly gaveled out. Republicans are trying to pass new congressional maps that favor the GOP, but Democrats argue that redrawing the lines will take away from minority groups. Gov. Mike Kehoe called the special session to redraw the state's congressional districts after President Donald Trump called on Missouri to do so. Members of both parties said they are not willing to budge on their positions. The Missouri House is slated to begin debate Monday afternoon over a new congressional map that targets Democrat Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City and substantially curtails the initiative petition ballot process.

And while there’s not much suspense over the outcome, the next couple of days are expected to showcase Democratic disdain for their Republican colleagues and even some misgivings from Republicans about the two special... Friday perhaps showcased a preview when Rep. LaKeySha Bosley slammed proposed congressional redistricting as racist. She said the map seeks to dilute Black political power by potentially forcing out Cleaver, who was elected as the first African American mayor of Kansas City. When House members return on Monday, they’ll begin debate on the two main pieces of Gov. Mike Kehoe’s special session agenda.

The first would create a congressional map that converts Cleaver’s district into a GOP-leaning seat. The second item is a proposal that requires any initiative petition ballot proposal to pass in a statewide vote and in eight out of eight congressional districts. The redistricting plan comes as President Donald Trump pressures GOP-leaning states like Missouri, Texas, Indiana and Florida to make their maps more favorable ahead of the 2026 election cycle. Typically, the president’s party does poorly in midterm elections, and Republicans hold a small majority in the U.S. House. A technical session held by the Missouri House of Representatives on Sunday lasted just two minutes but the political fallout is expected to last much longer.

The meeting began at 5:30 p.m. and adjourned at 5:32 p.m. with no discussion. While little was said in the chamber, the divide between Republicans and Democrats was unmistakable. “People don't want this. They would rather have education.

They would rather have affordable food, affordable rent, affordable mortgages. They'd like to be able to live without the government interfering in their lives every single day,” Jeremy Dean (D-Springfield) said. “How can I explain today? A bunch of cowards for one, unconstitutional for two,” Tonya Rush (D-STL) said. "Today went exactly how we expected it to with a little bit more dramatics from the Republicans," Dean said. "Our point here is to make them realize that what we're doing here is unconstitutional.

We aren't following the will of Missourians." JEFFERSON CITY — The Missouri House of Representatives voted to approve new congressional districts designed to add another Republican seat in a special session Monday. The 89-63 vote, which clears the way for final approval by the House on Tuesday, came after more than four hours of debate that featured familiar talking points from both Republicans and Democrats. Twelve Republicans, including House Speaker Jon Patterson, opposed the bill. Rep. Melissa Douglas, D-Kansas City, speaks against the bill to redraw the state’s congressional districts on Monday at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Douglas represents part of Jackson County, including several neighborhoods of Kansas City, which is the main area that will be affected by the new map. Rep. Pattie Mansur, D-Kansas City, holds her notebook while debating on Monday at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. Mansur spoke against the bill to redraw the state's congressional districts. Rep. John Martin, R-Columbia, speaks in favor of the bill to redraw the state’s congressional districts on Monday at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

Martin represents part of Boone County. Now that the Second Extra Session of the General Assembly is underway in the Missouri House of Representatives, there are two main topics of discussion being considered. Half of the agenda involves redistricting. The other half features changes to initiative petitions. During this year’s regular legislative session, initiative petitions were the focus of Senate Joint Resolution of 47, sponsored by Senator Joe Carter of Granby. “It’s very similar to the opposed amendments that we’ve just heard from Senator Moon and from Senator Brown, more identically aligned with Senator Brown’s language.”

Senator Maggie Nurenburn of Kansas City says she is not a fan of this idea. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — New congressional districts are one step closer to reality after the Missouri House of Representatives passed HB1 early Tuesday afternoon. The bill, which passed by a 90-65 margin, now goes to the Missouri Senate for debate. House members gave the redistricting bill initial approval in an 89-63 vote on Monday. Gov.

Mike Kehoe called an extraordinary, or special, session of the legislature last month to pass both proposals. Republicans across the country have taken up redistricting as a way to maintain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections.

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