JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — The Missouri Farm Bureau (MOFB) urged Republican Senate leaders to consider rural Missourians amid the congressional redistricting fight.
In a letter to Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz and Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden Tuesday, MOFB President Garrett Hawkens said a “loss of rural representation could weaken our communities.”
“Efforts to dilute the impact of rural representation run counter to our state’s best interests,” Hawkins said.
- The legislative session, particularly in the upper chamber, kicked off with a fracas over the redistricting maps. The current proposal being worked on in the Senate would favor Republicans 6-2. Hardline conservatives want to see a 7-1 map.
- The Senate Select Committee on Redistricting passed the map out on Tuesday, with two Kansas City-area Democrats voting with the Republican leaders and two St. Louis-area Democrats voting with the Conservative Caucus members against the map.
- Missouri Right to Life’s Susan Klein argued for a 7-1 map in hearings on both sides of the Capitol. She has said Republicans need to draw a map that would send more anti-abortion individuals to Congress.
- Hawkins said: “When rural Missouri is strong, our entire state is strong. Our citizens are best served when their congressional districts reflect their local communities.”
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
