Washington, DC — Today, the Republican-led Kansas House of Representatives passed a gerrymandered congressional map with only Republican support. The map has already been passed by the Kansas Senate with only Republican support, and will now go to the Governor’s desk. 

“Kansas Republicans ignored the will of the people and decades of precedent by carving up the Kansas City metropolitan area for their partisan gain,” said Kelly Burton, President of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee. “Despite Republican efforts to prevent the public from responding to this map prior to its passage, Kansans raised their voices to make it clear that this blatant power grab does not reflect their wishes. It is shameful that, instead of pursuing a reasonable solution, Kansas Republicans chose to follow the same partisan pattern of egregious gerrymandering other Republican-led legislatures are conducting across the country.” 

Earlier this month, the nonpartisan League of Women Voters (LWV) released a map that was introduced in the state legislature and presented a fair alternative that accurately reflects the input Kansans provided in public testimony. Instead of selecting this option, Republicans pushed the “Ad Astra 2” map, a gerrymandered map that splits apart the Kansas City metropolitan area, which is the most populous, diverse part of the state. 

Following the introduction of the gerrymandered map, Kansans turned out to make sure Republicans knew they were ignoring the will of the people by pursuing a gerrymandered map. Here’s a sample of the coverage of their response: 

KANSAS REFLECTOR: ‘You have awakened a sleeping lion’: Kansas City residents denounce GOP congressional map

KCUR: Kansas City residents blast Kansas GOP congressional map

TOPEKA CAPITAL-JOURNAL: Critics worry over plan to lump Lawrence with other college towns — and rural western Kansas

###