On Thursday, Sept. 5, my Democratic colleagues, state Reps. Jeremy Dean of Springfield and Elizabeth “Lily” Fuchs of St. Louis, began sitting on the floor of the Missouri House of Representatives.
Not because it’s comfortable. Not because it’s convenient. But because the majority party has forced our hand.
Republican lawmakers, at the urging of Donald Trump, are pushing through a mid-cycle gerrymander that slices up Kansas City and silences the voices of thousands of Missourians.
They refused to acknowledge us on the floor, broke rules meant to safeguard debate and then left for the weekend — while we stayed put. We chose to hold the floor because the people of Missouri deserve better than a map designed to entrench power at the expense of their voice.
Let’s be clear: Democrats did not pick this fight. We came to Jefferson City ready to work with anyone, Republican or Democrat, on the issues that matter — schools, health care, jobs, safe neighborhoods. But when faced with an attack on democracy itself, we could not look the other way.
The foundation of our system is simple: Voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around. That principle is older than any one of us. It is bigger than any political party. And yet, here in Missouri, it is being cast aside for short-term partisan gain.
Now, I’ve been around politics long enough to know that redistricting fights are nothing new. Every decade, states redraw maps. But this isn’t the start of a new cycle. This isn’t about balancing population shifts. This is about raw power. It’s about silencing communities that have every right to make their voices heard. It’s about cutting up Kansas City, not because it makes sense for governance, but because it makes sense for partisan advantage.
When Republicans ignore the rules, refuse to recognize duly elected representatives and then head home for the weekend, what they are really saying is: “Your voices don’t matter.” That is something we cannot accept.
Our sit-in is not an act of defiance for defiance’s sake. It is an act of faith. Faith in the idea that democracy belongs to us all. Faith in the idea that when people see what’s being done in their name, they will not stay silent. Faith in the long arc of history, which bends toward justice only when we help bend it.
Some will say this is just politics as usual. But I ask them, “When was the last time politics as usual asked you to give up your voice? When was the last time it told you that your community, your neighborhood, your family, should count for less because it suited someone else’s political calculation?”
The truth is, Missourians deserve leaders who rise to the challenges of our time, not ones who manipulate the rules to cling to power. They deserve maps that are fair, elections that are competitive and a government that reflects the will of the people.
History has never been shaped by those who sat silently in the face of injustice. It has been shaped by ordinary people who refused to accept the unacceptable.
So yes, Democrats didn’t pick this fight. But we are not afraid of it because the cause we are standing for is bigger than us. It is bigger than this chamber. It is about whether the promise of democracy still holds true in Missouri.
We are here to say that it does.
And until every voice is heard and every vote counts, we will not stop holding the line.
State Rep. Ray Reed represents Missouri’s 83rd House District