KSHB 41 reporter Olivia Acree covers portions of Johnson County, Kansas. Share your story idea with Olivia.
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The Kansas Senate says it has gathered enough signatures to force a special session aimed at redrawing the state's congressional lines, specifically targeting the seat currently held by Representative Sharice Davids.
The Republican-led effort seeks to flip Davids' seat from Democratic to Republican control through redistricting. However, the House must also secure signatures from two-thirds of its members before the special session can proceed.
Some Johnson County voters are calling the redistricting effort unnecessary, particularly since it's happening in an off-census year.
"In an off-census year, I think the gerrymandering effort is really needless. We have a great representative in Sharice Davids," said Margo Mikkelson, a Johnson County voter.
District 3, which Davids represents, currently includes parts of Wyandotte and Johnson counties but extends into rural areas reaching Anderson County. The proposed redistricting effort aims to alter this composition to favor Republican candidates.
Greg Vonnahme, a UMKC political science associate professor, explained the role Democratic voters in Johnson County play.
"As you try to change the composition to make it more favorable for Republicans, you're gonna have Democratic voters that you're gonna have to move somewhere else," Vonnahme said. “There are a lot of Democratic voters in Johnson County, and that's been one of the big changes, political changes that we've seen in the electorate in the last 20 years.”
Vonnahme explained that twenty years ago, Kansas politics were split, but Johnson County held a large block of moderate Republicans.
During the Brownback years and Trump's first administration, the GOP lost some of those moderate voters. The county elected Davids in 2018, making her third congressional seat a target.
If maps are redrawn to favor Republicans, not only do Democrats in the state lose power but voters lose the lawmaker they believed in.
"As we change maps, we lose the opportunity for voters to hold their officials accountable. So you might be in district three now, but then if we change you to district two, whatever relationship you had with that member of Congress in district three, they're not going to be your representative in the next cycle," Vonnahme said.
Senate President Ty Masterson is advocating for a November 7 special session that would last approximately four days and result in new maps. The proposed map has not yet been released.
Vonnahme emphasized that gerrymandering is unpopular across party lines.
"This is also one of the few issues that really unites Americans across party lines. Americans, Republicans, and Democrats do not look favorably upon partisan gerrymandering," Vonnahme said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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