The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference Monday, August 11 at St. Louis City Hall. The gathering was held to express its opposition to possible gerrymandering in the state. Discussions about implementing the practice have begun in Kansas City.
Gerrymandering entails the redrawing of electoral district boundaries to benefit a political party or group. It often creates unusually shaped districts intended to weaken the voting power of opponents or cluster supporters into certain areas.
States are typically required to redraw their congressional and state legislative district boundaries every 10 years. Missouri last redrew its congressional district boundaries in May 2022, when Gov. Mike Parson signed the map into law.
The likelihood of gerrymandering happening in St. Louis is unclear, but the Legislative Black Caucus stated its commitment to remaining in the fight against it.
The conversation is currently centered on dividing U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver’s 5th Congressional District, that encompasses almost all of Kansas City and some suburbs in Jackson and Clay counties. It’s a response to President Trump’s urging of Missouri lawmakers to redraw the state’s U.S. House map to give Republicans another congressional seat.
Cleaver is reported as saying the attempt would result in a legal battle.
Yolanda Fountain Henderson, vice chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and state representative for the 85th district stated in her opening that she hopes “the governor does not hold a special session and waste the taxpayers’ money.”
Pastor Darryl Gray, director of general social justice at Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. was next at the podium and mentioned Texas, where Republicans are working to push gerrymandering through, as a warning of what could happen elsewhere, including St. Louis.
The likelihood of gerrymandering happening in St. Louis is unclear, but the Legislative Black Caucus stated its commitment to remaining in the fight against it.
Gray pushed back on the idea that gerrymandering and its impact only affects certain groups, saying, “When we allow politicians like Donald Trump to have their way, they don’t just have their way with Black and Brown people — he has his way with all of them.
Wendy Todd is a St. Louis American Report for America corps member.