After Republican leaders said on Tuesday that they had not gathered enough votes to call a special session for redistricting, opponents of drawing new maps celebrated.
“The decision makes Kansas the first state to reject President Trump’s proposed redistricting initiative aimed at influencing the 2026 midterm elections,” a statement from the Kansas House Democratic Caucus said.
But it may only be a temporary victory. The redistricting debate is not over and will return when lawmakers start the regular session in January.
The goal was to redraw the state’s congressional map so it would be harder for Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids to keep her 3rd District seat in the Johnson County area.
For weeks, Republican Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins and state Senate President Ty Masterson have been circulating a petition for lawmakers to call themselves into a special session on Nov. 7.
But proponents did not find support from two-thirds of each chamber, which was needed to call the special session. The state Senate had enough signatures, but several Republicans in the House refused to sign on.
"Planning a Special Session is always going to be an uphill battle with multiple agendas, scheduling conflicts, and many other unseen factors at play,” Hawkins said in a statement on Tuesday.
Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson said he would make redistricting “a top priority” when the Legislature returns to Topeka for the regular session.
“California Democrats are working overtime to silence Republicans and steal the House majority,” Masterson said in a statement. “States across America are standing up, and Kansas will be part of that fight.”
A chain reaction of redistricting efforts ignited after Texas redrew its maps ahead of schedule, with the aim of preserving Republicans’ thin majority in the U.S. House. At President Trump’s urging, Missouri’s GOP-led government passed a gerrymandered map in September. North Carolina soon followed.
Meanwhile, California voters approved a state constitutional amendment in Tuesday’s special election to adopt new congressional maps that favor Democrats. And Virginia Democrats recently joined the fray.
Kansas is not the only GOP-led state where redistricting efforts have struggled to get off the ground. Republican Indiana Governor Mike Braun called state lawmakers into a redistricting special session in December, but it’s unclear whether a majority of state lawmakers support gerrymandering.
One of the holdouts in the Kansas House was Republican Mark Schreiber, who has also defied the party consensus on LGBTQ issues. Schreiber told the Kansas News Service that he had received hundreds of calls, texts and emails imploring him to oppose redistricting.
“I’m glad we avoided a special session,” he said in a text to the Kansas News Service on Wednesday.
Despite Masterson’s insistence that lawmakers will see new maps in January, the state GOP’s inability to call a special session is a discouraging sign for the effort.
Two-thirds of each chamber would need to approve the maps to override a likely veto by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly — the same threshold leaders failed to reach to call a special session.
The maps would then have to survive expected legal challenges and review by the state Supreme Court.
In Kansas, some Democratic lawmakers and anti-redistricting advocates have struck a tone of cautious optimism.
“Today we’ve won the first round in this fight against gerrymandering,” Davids said on social media. “But their plan to cheat the system isn’t over.”
Zane Irwin reports on politics, campaigns and elections for the Kansas News Service. You can email him at zaneirwin@kcur.org.
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