Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green recently ruled that Missouri's constitutional referendum rules do not apply to congressional maps passed by the legislature.
He rejected a challenge to put the Republican-friendly districts — and the districts backed by President Donald Trump — to a statewide vote. The districts were already used in the August primaries, and now they can be used in the November elections.
Missouri's current U.S. House delegation is made up of six Republicans and two Democrats who were elected from districts with boundaries drawn after the 2020 census. But last year, Gov. Mike Kehoe (R) called the legislature into a special session after Trump urged Republican-led states to redraw congressional boundaries to their advantage ahead of the midterms.
The revised map impacts the seat held by U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City), who has been one of the most vocal critics of the president.
Dwight Widaman of the Metro Voice in the Kansas City area thinks the ruling is fair.
"This is not about denying Kansas City representation, as the media wants to tell us," he tells AFN. "It's still the largest population center in the district; it's the largest city in the state of Missouri. What conservatives and Republicans and Christians see is that this is about ending a seat that's been protected for 50 years for the Democrat. This new boundary gives suburban and rural Missourians a more meaningful voice."
He says it also requires Cleaver (pictured above) to finally defend his votes on issues like border security, election integrity, women's sports, abortion and taxes.
"He hasn't had to defend his votes because he's been in an extremely safe Democrat district," Widaman explains. "Now he will be forced to defend his votes, and that's what really has changed in Missouri."
Widaman is confident that the Missouri Supreme Court will uphold the lower court decision, if the appeal process goes that far.
