Kansas Republicans drop redistricting push on election night
Kansas Republicans have decided to abandon their effort to redraw the state’s congressional districts on election night, which aimed to gain an additional House seat. State House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced that there was insufficient support within the Republican caucus to call a special session to bypass Governor Laura Kelly’s refusal to hold one. This setback affects the broader redistricting agenda backed by former President Donald Trump, who has seen success in other states like Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina with additional house seats gained through redistricting plans.
Despite abandoning the plan for now, republican state senate President Ty Masterson emphasized that redistricting will remain a top priority when the legislature reconvenes in January. meanwhile, Democrats claimed a major redistricting victory in California, where voters approved Proposition 50 to redraw congressional districts in a way that coudl flip five seats to Democrats. Governor Gavin Newsom hailed the measure as a rebuke of Trump’s attempts to influence elections, urging other states to follow California’s lead.
Similar redistricting efforts are underway in other blue states like virginia and Maryland, with recent Democratic electoral gains strengthening their positions.Republicans faced notable losses nationwide, including in Virginia, New Jersey, and Mississippi, where special elections altered the state legislature’s GOP supermajority. These shifts highlight the ongoing political battle over redistricting power and influence in the United States.
Kansas Republicans drop redistricting push on election night
Kansas Republicans ended their push to redraw the state’s congressional map that would have gained them one more red House seat.
Republican state House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced the move on Tuesday night as Democrats won various elections nationwide.
Hawkins said he didn’t gather enough support from the Kansas legislature’s Republican caucus to force a special session on redistricting. The special session, planned for Friday, would have bypassed Gov. Laura Kelly’s (D-KS) refusal to call one.
The announcement represents a setback for President Donald Trump‘s redistricting agenda. Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina have already created seven additional House seats, and Kansas would have added one more.
While Hawkins abandoned the Trump-backed redistricting plan, Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson said redistricting would be a “top priority” come January, when the GOP-supermajority legislature convenes its regular annual session.
“President Trump asked Republicans to fight for fair maps and for America’s future,” Masterson said. “We did our part — and we’ll keep leading the charge here in Kansas.”
Meanwhile, California gained a significant victory on the redistricting front after voters overwhelmingly supported Proposition 50. The now-approved ballot measure will set in motion the process to redraw California’s congressional districts in order to flip five House seats in favor of Democrats.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), who led the redistricting push countering Republicans, cast his redistricting win as a rebuke of Trump.
“What happened here in California tonight is a victory for the people of this country,” he wrote on X. “[Trump’s] attempts to rig the midterm elections are backfiring. His attempts to silence you are backfiring. His entire presidency is backfiring.”
During a celebratory speech on Tuesday night, Newsom called on other states to join California in undergoing the redistricting process so that Democrats can “de facto end” Trump’s presidency if House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is sworn in as speaker after the 2026 elections.
Virginia and Maryland are examples of blue states that are pursuing their own redistricting schemes.
Virginia’s redistricting plan has been further enabled after Democrats won at least 13 more seats in the House of Delegates, increasing their majority to a 64-36 margin.
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Republicans suffered huge losses not only in high-stakes races, such as those in Virginia and New Jersey, but also in the special elections in Mississippi, where Democrats gained two state Senate seats and one state House seat. Mississippi’s results broke the state legislature’s GOP supermajority for the first time in over a decade.
The special elections were the result of court-ordered redistricting. The state legislature passed a new legislative map after a federal court determined last year that the previous map did not contain enough majority-black districts.
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