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Missouri has eight congressional districts, one of which has historically been based in the Kansas City area. In direct response to partisan calls to gerrymander congressional districts before the 2026 midterm elections, Missouri dismantled Kansas City-based Congressional District 5, cracking the city into three pieces and splitting them between three rural districts. The fracturing of Kansas City prevents the area’s residents from uniting to have their voices heard by a single member of Congress.

The redraw of the lines around Kansas City was along racial lines—and is aimed at unseating one of the two Black members of Congress representing Missouri. In one highly populated area of Kansas City, the new lines bisect Black and white neighbors, literally placing different racial groups on opposite sides of the track.

ºìÐÓÊÓƵ, the ºìÐÓÊÓƵ of Missouri, and the Campaign Legal Center filed a lawsuit challenging the new district lines on September 12, 2025, the same afternoon that the lines were enacted by the Missouri legislature. The action was filed on behalf of individual Kansas City voters who are harmed by the gerrymandered districts.

Plaintiffs challenge the new congressional map in two principal ways under the Missouri Constitution. First, the state has no authority to redistrict more than once per decade—redistricting may only occur with a new decennial census. Second, the state constitution requires that each district be as compact as possible—and the gerrymandered lines in Kansas City violate that requirement.

Moreover, in the Missouri legislature’s rush to enact plans specifically demanded by Donald Trump, it overlooked critical errors in the map’s design. By double-counting certain residents, the state legislature violated the requirement of equal population in each district. And by misallocating certain residents, the state legislature created a non-contiguous district, i.e., a district consisting of disconnected areas. That rushed and error-ridden legislative process betrayed the trust of Missouri voters.

Plaintiffs are seeking to restore the previous congressional districts that were enacted by the state in 2022. Immediately upon filing the case, Plaintiffs have requested emergency relief from the Circuit Court of Jackson County.