Missouri voters reject ‘Missouri First’ map for the 2028 election
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Missouri voters rejected Proposition A on Tuesday, and shut down the opportunity for the 2025-drawn congressional map to be used in the next election. State lawmakers passed the map last September in an effort to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the midterms.
“I’m a very proud Missourian tonight. Together, we delivered a simple yet powerful message to our state and to the nation. In Missouri, we pick our politicians; they do not pick us,” said Richard von Glahn, executive director of People Not Politicians, the group that put Proposition A on the ballot.
People Not Politcians started the process for the referendum in September, shortly after the General Assembly passed it.
The 2025 congressional map expanded District 5 from being centered around Kansas City and stretches it out to northern Boone County, Osage County and Maries County.
Some Mid-Missouri voters might have voted in the August primary for incumbent Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Kansas City) or state Sen. Rick Brattin (R-Cass County) because that election was conducted under the 2025 map.
Voters in those counties will now see different candidates because a United States Supreme Court decision in September mandated the state use the 2022 map.
Cleaver won back his District 5 seat against Brattin. Cleaver told ABC 17 News that he’s grateful for the work People Not Politicians did to overturn the gerrymandered map.
“I feel good that an organization came into the state of Missouri called People Not Politicians took it upon themselves to collect 303,000 signatures from Missourians who thought that mid-decade redistricting was wrong,” Cleaver said.
Before the polls closed, Brattin said he would consider running for District 5 again if Proposition A passed.
After the District 5 results came out with Cleaver on top, Brattin released a statement referencing the United States Supreme Court and the Missouri Supreme Court’s decisions to use the 2022 map for the November election.
“Unfortunately, the Missouri Supreme Court chose to make an unprecedented decision to benefit Democrats, swapping the congressional map after primary votes had already been certified, disenfranchising 1.2 million Missouri voters in the process and making it nearly impossible for a Republican to win in this district,” Brattin is quoted in the release.
The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the referendum after Hoskins denied its certification. In court proceedings, the secretary was warned the certification of the referendum would freeze the 2025 map and force the state to use the 2022 map.
The group collected 305,000 signatures for the referendum, and Secretary of State Denny Hoskins threw out over 100,000 signatures because they were collected before the secretary approved the referendum for circulation.
The group also spearheaded court battles against Hoskins after he tried to reject the referendum. The Missouri Supreme Court upheld the referendum, and the United States Supreme Court upheld the state high-court’s decision.
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