KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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When congressional redistricting took place in Kansas in 2022, Lawrence was separated from the rest of Douglas County, joining rural western Kansas as part of the 1st Congressional District.
The boundaries for Kansas' 1st District have since spanned from Lawrence, which is regularly considered a blue dot in a red state, to the Colorado border.
Sonja Czarnecki, vice president of the League of Women Voters Lawrence-Douglas County, informed voters of the map in 2022.
"I mean, it's sort of funny," she said. "The map is kind of hilarious because it's so obvious what's happening."
University of Kansas political science professor Don Haider-Markel remembers what it was like in Lawrence at the time.
"Yeah, it was the, 'The sky is falling,'" Haider-Markel said. "Much the same way conversations are happening in Missouri."
Newly proposed congressional district lines in Missouri would run straight through Kansas City and divide it into three districts.
Missouri's 5th Congressional District would expand to the middle of the state. Missouri Democrats said the proposed redistricting is an attempt by Republicans to flip Congressman Emanuel Cleaver's seat red in 2026.
"That kind of pattern is common throughout the country," Haider-Markel said. "Even what Missouri is doing now, one of the new districts would run all the way up to Illinois from Kansas City, and that's very similar to what happened here in Lawrence."
Haider-Markel said the U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled states don't have to wait for census data every 10 years to redraw district lines. Although, redistricting regulations differ from state to state.
Redistricting conversations are happening in both Republican- and Democrat-led states across the country.
"This is major to have several states even be considering this in a given year; this is very unusual, this hasn't happened before," Haider-Markel said. "I should say, one of the reasons this hasn't happened in a more widespread manner is because in many states, it's not solely up to the legislature to draw these maps."
In Kansas and Missouri, that is the case.
"The League, for a very long time, has advocated for independent redistricting commissions to make it somewhat less partisan," Czarnecki said. "We think that's the gold standard, and we'd like to see Kansas move in that direction."
Some Kansas Republicans have recently engaged in talks about redistricting in the state.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly sent the following statement to KSHB 41 News on Monday:
"I am increasingly concerned that elected Kansas officials, and those seeking that honor, are doing the bidding of D.C. politicians rather than representing their Kansas constituents. The current redistricting process, imperfect as it is, is designed to provide fair representation. Engaging in redistricting efforts without new census data and with a clearly partisan agenda is not acting in the best interests of Kansans.
"Our congressional districts have already been drawn with the intention of stripping Representative Davids of her seat and reducing the competitiveness of the 2nd Congressional District. In order to create a map aligned with their unfair agenda, it is my understanding that Republican leadership would consider a map that would split Johnson County into two, if not three, congressional districts. I would encourage all Kansans, but especially those in Johnson County, to contact their state representatives and make their concerns known."
Haider-Markel said the possibility of redistricting in Kansas is currently uncertain.
"I think Gov. Kelly is unlikely to call a special session for this," he said. "Whether or not the legislature tries to wait until early 2026 to push out a new map when they’re in regular session remains to be seen.”
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