Missouri’s high court will decide Thursday whether to force changes to the state’s Senate districts in a case in which the Republican majority is divided over how new voter-approved redistricting standards should be applied. I made an argument.
A lawsuit filed by voters alleges that the Senate district in suburban St. Louis and western Missouri’s Buchanan County violates the state constitution by unnecessarily dividing cities and counties into multiple districts. . They are requesting that the electoral districts be amended before this year’s elections.
Missouri is one of 12 states where legal challenges to the redrawing of congressional and state legislative boundaries based on the 2020 census remain pending. In many states, these battles pit Democrats and Republicans against each other as each party scrambles to shape districts in their favor.
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But the Missouri lawsuit has divided Republicans into two camps. The Republican Senate Committee supports the map established in 2022 by a panel of appellate court judges. But the House Republican Committee sided with Democrats who filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the district.
Both argue that their approach is most effective at stopping gerrymandering, where mapmakers manipulate boundaries to benefit particular political parties, racial groups, or incumbent legislators. ing. The outcome of the lawsuit will not affect immediate control of the Senate, where Republicans hold a 24-10 majority over Democrats.
Chuck Hatfield, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said after Thursday’s arguments that establishing which criteria are most important “will impact the next round of redistricting and how it is done” after the 2030 Census. Ta.
It is unclear how quickly the court will issue a decision. Candidate filing for the August primary election is scheduled for February 27th to March 26th.
Attorney Chuck Hatfield speaks with Missouri Deputy Attorney General Maria Lanahan on Thursday, February 1, 2024, in the Missouri Supreme Court in Jefferson City, Missouri. (AP Photo/David A. Reeve)
At issue are revised zoning standards approved by voters in a 2020 ballot measure. The first standard states that districts must have substantially equal populations, but can deviate by up to 3 percent “in cases where it is necessary to follow political division lines,” such as in counties or cities.
The second criterion requires compliance with the Federal Voting Rights Act, the third prioritizes “contiguous” and “compact” districts, and the fourth maintains communities across districts if possible under population parity guidelines. is requesting that you do so.
The lawsuit alleges that it is unconstitutional to divide Buchanan County into two districts represented by Republicans and the St. Louis suburb of Hazelwood into two districts represented by Democrats. A trial judge rejected that argument in September, ruling that the map was reasonable because the Constitution prioritizes compact neighborhoods over pristine communities.
But Hatfield argued to the Supreme Court justices that keeping counties and cities intact was more important than drawing compact districts. Failure to do so would divide communities and “enable efforts to gerrymander state legislative districts for nefarious political purposes,” Hatfield said in a court filing.
The state attorney general’s office defended the current Senate map. Deputy Attorney General Maria Lanahan told the judge that, although the plaintiffs do not object, various other Senate districts also divide counties without following political district lines. She said the standards proposed by the plaintiffs would be particularly difficult to follow in densely populated areas.
Prior to Thursday’s arguments, the Missouri House Republican Campaign Committee filed amicus briefs in support of the appeal. The court held that community divisions in the Senate map were “totally unnecessary” and that if the court prioritized compactness, a House map that avoided such divisions would be actionable.
The Republican Missouri State Senate Campaign Committee counters in its own court brief, saying House Republicans are “aligned with the interests of the Democratic Party” and that each member is “personally interested in adjusting the Senate districts in which they wish to run in the future.” He argued that he may have a “realistic interest.”
Senate Republicans argued that the current map avoids partisan manipulation that could result from overemphasizing communities.
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“Compact, contiguous territory is the first and strongest line of defense against political and racial gerrymandering,” Senate Republicans said in a brief filed by attorney Eddie Grime.
