We need to take a short trip down memory lane to fully understand how much Missouri Republicans have betrayed voters to pass manipulated maps.

Just three years ago, the very people who just passed the new, extreme gerrymander through the Republican-led Missouri House and Senate were opposed to a version of this map. State Representative Ann Kelley opposed a gerrymander that grouped rural counties with portions of Kansas City, explaining that it wasn’t right to group rural and urban communities together.

“We’re not the same. We have different views,” she said. Last month, Kelley voted for a gerrymander that does exactly what she opposed before.

Less than three months ago, in July, it seemed as though other state legislators would maintain this stance once again, prioritizing fair representation for their constituents over blind loyalty to Trump.

As Chad Perkins, speaker pro tem of the Missouri House, put it: “We do redistricting every 10 years. We’ve already done that. To do it again would be out of character with the way Missouri operates.”

However, once pressure from the Trump White House ramped up in August, they did a 180. The same Chad Perkins who was against a mid-decade map redraw earlier in the summer brought the egregious gerrymander to the House floor for a vote. The gerrymander passed the Missouri House with only Republican votes (and bipartisan opposition).

So what changed? Absolutely nothing. Except that Missouri Republicans have decided to follow orders from the Trump White House instead of listening to their constituents.

The reality is, Missourians did not want this gerrymander three years ago, and they do not want it today. Despite that, the governor has signed this Trump-backed scheme into law.

The fair maps movement is actively challenging this gerrymander in court. At the same time, the NDRC is focused on throwing sand in the gears of the national Trump-led map manipulation scheme to prevent it from silencing voters.

Rush a donation to the NDRC to power this critical work for fair maps and fair representation in Missouri and beyond.

Thanks so much,

The NDRC Team

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Since 2017, the NDRC has executed a comprehensive redistricting strategy that shifts the redistricting power, creating fair districts where Democrats can compete. Our victories have been made possible by our strong community of grassroots supporters.

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