Gov. Mike Parson, flanked by Rep. Dan Shaul and Sen. Mike Bernskoetter signed Missouri’s new congressional map into law Wednesday.
The map is comprised of eight districts, six of which reliably lean Republican. The map was immediately put into effect due to an emergency clause within HB 2909.
This means the new map will be in place during the 2022 midterm elections for the U.S. House of Representatives and for the race to fill Senator Roy Blunt’s seat as he will not seek re-election.
Congressional districts are required to be changed every 10 years as new Census data becomes available.
Missouri was one of the last states to approve its redistricting map. Considerable debate and attempts to create a 7-1 Republican majority as opposed to a 6-2 advantage led to significant delays.
Parson lamented the time it took to get Missouri’s map approved.
“This past session, we saw a few individuals’ political posturing to obstruct key pieces of priority legislation and promote inefficient and ineffective government,” Parson said in a statement. “It’s unfortunate so much time and productivity were lost just to receive a map with the same partisan split that was proposed six months ago.”
County clerks in Missouri now face a time crunch that clerks in other states do not. Especially in newly split counties like Boone and Webster, clerks will have to scramble to get the correct ballots sent to the proper addresses by the August primary elections.
“I am confident talking to some of the clerks over the weekend. They’re well prepared,” Parson said. “I’m confident they’ll get it right. And I think they are too. They would like to have started it 60 days ago. So again, I think the end result is the same today as it would have been in January.”
