Missouri Senate divided on congressional redistricting

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Republicans in the Missouri Senate negotiated behind closed doors for hours Wednesday over how to divvy up the state's eight congressional districts based on the latest census data.

Senate Republicans are divided between a plan continuing Missouri's current political split in the U.S. House and a more aggressive proposal potentially giving the GOP a shot at winning seven of the state's eight congressional seats.

Missouri currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Republicans and two Democrats whose districts are based in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The Senate ultimately adjourned Wednesday evening without voting on either plan.

All states must redraw their congressional districts to account for population changes noted by the 2020 census, so each new district has the same number of people.

A measure passed by the GOP-led state House and backed by Republican Senate leaders is projected leaving Democratic U.S. Reps. Emanuel Cleaver and Cori Bush's urban districts relatively intact, maintaining the 6-2 split between Missouri Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

But conservative caucus Republicans advocated for hours Wednesday on the Senate floor for district lines weighted more heavily for the GOP.

An alternative proposal by suburban St. Louis Republican Sen. Bill Eigel would split Cleaver's Kansas City area district.

Eigel said the goal of dividing the Democratic stronghold is to send more Republicans to the U.S. House. But other Republicans have warned doing so could make traditionally safe GOP districts more competitive and lead to as many as three Democrats representing Missouri in Congress.

Eigel also criticized the House bill for not doing enough to make GOP U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner's suburban St. Louis district more solidly Republican.

He said unless more is done to protect Wagner's district from Democratic challengers, he views the House plan as also having the potential to cause a 5-3 party split.

If the Senate agrees to change the proposal passed last week by the state House, the bill would have to go back to the lower chamber for reconsideration.